Department of Health and Social Care

Plastic Surgery: Regulation

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to bring forward regulations on who is permitted to administer (a) botox injections and (b) dermal fillers.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Government is committed to improving the safety of cosmetic procedures through better training for practitioners, and clear information so that people can make informed decisions about their care. The growth in non-surgical treatments increases the need for consumer protection and we are currently working with stakeholders to strengthen the regulation of cosmetic procedures.The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency is responsible for regulating all medicines and medical devices in the United Kingdom.Botulinum injections (commonly known under the brand name ‘Botox’) are prescription-only medicines. A prescriber may delegate responsibility for the administration of the medicine, but they retain responsibility for ensuring that the secondary practitioner provides the treatment safely.Currently, a dermal filler may be regulated either as a general product, a medicine or a medical device, depending on its composition and intended use. From May 2020 all dermal fillers, irrespective of their composition and intended use, will be regulated as medical devices under Annex XVI of the Medical Device Regulations (EU 2017/745). Whilst it is outside of the remit of the Regulations to make provisions for who can administer or use medical devices on another person, the Regulations will significantly strengthen the quality assurance and safety of dermal fillers.We urge anyone seeking a cosmetic procedure to take the time to find a reputable, insured and appropriately qualified practitioner who is either subject to statutory regulation or on a voluntary register accredited by the Professional Standards Authority.

Bulimia: Young People

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to combat bulimia among young people.

Jackie Doyle-Price: We are committed to ensuring everyone with an eating disorder has access to the best quality of care to meet their needs. We are investing an extra £30 million each year for eating disorders and the National Health Service is treating more children and young people with an eating disorder than ever before. The implementation of 70 dedicated new or extended community services, has led to improved swift access to effective eating disorder treatment in the community. In 2015, the Government established a waiting time standard to improve access to eating disorders services for children and young people so that, by 2020/21, 95% of children with an eating disorder will receive treatment within one week for urgent cases and within four weeks for routine cases. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence published its updated clinical guideline for the recognition and treatment of eating disorders for people over the age of eight, including adults, in May 2017. The NHS Long Term Plan, published on 7 January, commits to additional investment for eating disorder services for children and young people and maintaining waiting time standards for this group. There will be a comprehensive expansion of mental health services, with an additional £2.3 billion in real terms by 2023/24. This will give 380,000 more adults access to psychological therapies and 345,000 more children and young people greater support in the next five years. The NHS will also roll out new waiting times to ensure rapid access to mental health services in the community for those that need it, and expand crisis care.

Antibiotics: Prices

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the Tackling Antimicrobial Resistance Action Plan 2019-2024, how delinking the price paid for antimicrobials from the volume sold will ensure that products produced by industry are affordable to the NHS.

Dr Philippa Whitford: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of using models that de-link the cost of research and development from the price of the final product and the volume of sales, as set out in the 2016 UN Political Declaration of the High-Level Meeting of the General Assembly on antimicrobial resistance, to ensure that new diagnostics, medicines and tools created are accessible and affordable.

Steve Brine: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



The 2016 United Nations political declaration on antimicrobial resistance (AMR) acknowledged the importance of delinking the cost of investment in research and development on AMR from the price and volume of sales to facilitate equitable and affordable access to new products and encouraged governments to explore innovative approaches. It is critical that the National Health Service makes the best use of its resources. Any payment model must therefore be based on a robust evaluation of the value that a new antimicrobial product brings to patients and the public as a whole. The assessment of how much value a new antibiotic brings is highly complex and will vary considerably from one product to another. In the United Kingdom, NHS England and the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) are leading work to test innovative models that pay companies based primarily on a NICE led health technology assessment of their value to the NHS as opposed to the volumes used. This has the potential to both promote good antimicrobial stewardship and provide a much-needed incentive for the development of new antimicrobial agents that will, over time, provide value for the NHS. The test will be subject to robust evaluation before considering any wider change to purchasing policy. The UK represents only a small part of the global market for these drugs and we want to send a signal to the rest of the world that there are workable models to achieve the right sort of incentives for these vital medicines.

NHS: Medical Records

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that NHS login is fully tested and fit for launch.

Jackie Doyle-Price: NHS Digital has advised that the National Health Service login service is currently being rigorously user tested to ensure that it is accessible, trusted and valued before being made available more widely. The NHS login service has been developed following iterative and agile delivery methods to ensure that user research, enhancements and security testing are continuously conducted, and software releases are rapid, controlled and monitored. Each change into a live environment is independently approved against information governance, security and clinical standards and risk assessments. The service is constantly monitored and tested to ensure that it can predict and mitigate security threats and vulnerabilities.

Carbon Monoxide: Poisoning

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans does his Department has for improving health outcomes for people with long-term cognitive and behavioural difficulties caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Chris Bryant: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, if he will meet with campaigners and the Rt Hon. Member for Rhondda to discuss reviewing provision of neurorehabilitation services throughout the country, particularly in cases of brain injury caused by carbon monoxide poisoning.

Caroline Dinenage: I would be happy to meet with the Rt. hon. Member for Rhondda and campaigners to discuss improving outcomes for those with brain injury caused by carbon monoxide poisoning. NHS England has issued ‘Commissioning Guidance for Rehabilitation’ which provides a framework for commissioners to use service information, and a benchmarking tool, to specifically support reduction of variation in access to and quality of rehabilitation services. This is available at the following link: https://www.england.nhs.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/rehabilitation-comms-guid-16-17.pdf

Hospitals: Parking

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what consultation his Department has undertaken on the level and appropriateness of parking fines on issued in NHS hospital car parks.

Stephen Hammond: The Department has not consulted on the appropriateness of parking fines issued in National Health Service hospital car parks. The level and appropriateness of car parking charges at NHS sites is the responsibility of the local NHS trust. As set out in the NHS Car Parking Principles we have always made clear that staff, patients and their families should not have to deal with the stress of complex and unfair charges. These were based on discussions with interested parties including NHS trusts and patients’ organisations.

Lyme Disease

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many requests for research funding into Lyme Disease have been submitted to National Institute for Health Research health protection research units; how many of those applications have been approved; and if he will make a statement.

Caroline Dinenage: The Department commissions research through the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) and is the largest public funder of health research in the United Kingdom. The NIHR welcomes funding applications for research into any aspect of human health, including Lyme disease. These applications are subject to peer review and judged in open competition, with awards being made on the basis of the importance of the topic to patients and health and care services, value for money and scientific quality. In all disease areas, the amount of NIHR funding depends on the volume and quality of scientific activity. The NIHR currently has no current applications for research on Lyme disease. The NIHR Health Protection Research Unit on Emerging and Zoonotic Infections is undertaking work on Lyme disease including looking at incidence of the disease in England and Wales.

Lyme Disease

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what recent assessment he has made of advances in the abilities of medical practitioners to diagnose Lyme Disease; and if he will make a statement.

Mr Laurence Robertson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what training is given to medical practitioners to enable them to (a) recognise the symptoms of and (b) treat Lyme Disease; and if he will make a statement.

Steve Brine: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



Individual medical schools set undergraduate medical training curricula and the relevant Royal Colleges set postgraduate medical training curricula which have to meet the standards set by the General Medical Council. Curricula should emphasise the skills and approaches that a doctor must develop in order to ensure accurate and timely diagnoses and treatment plans for their patients. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published updated guidance in 2018 on the diagnoses and management of Lyme disease, which can be found at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/guidance/ng95 The guidance aims to raise awareness of when Lyme disease should be suspected and ensure that people have prompt and consistent diagnosis and treatment. NICE’s guidelines help health and care professionals deliver the best possible care based on the best available evidence. The guidelines are not mandatory, although health and care commissioners are expected to take them fully into account. In addition, in February 2019, NICE published the following article at the following link: https://www.nice.org.uk/news/article/diagnose-lyme-disease-if-bull-s-eye-rash-is-present-says-nice Public Health England published guidance on Lyme disease in July 2018, which describes the clinical signs and symptoms of Lyme disease and is consistent with the NICE guidance. The guidance can be found at the folloiwng link: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/lyme-disease-guidance-data-and-analysis

Sanitary Protection: Educational Institutions

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking with the Department for Education to provide free sanitary products in (a) secondary schools, (b) colleges and (c) universities.

Jackie Doyle-Price: Provision of sanitary products in schools, colleges, and universities is a matter for the Department for Education.

NHS: Nurses

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many nurses left the NHS in each year since 2010.

Stephen Hammond: NHS Digital publishes Hospital and Community Health Services workforce statistics. These include staff working in hospital trusts and clinical commissioning groups, but not staff working in primary care, local authorities or other providers. The following table shows the number of nurses and health visitors who have left National Health Service employment as at 30 September for each of the years. Nurses and health visitors who left employment in the NHSSeptember 2009 to September 201025,940September 2010 to September 201127,462September 2011 to September 201232,816September 2012 to September 201328,547September 2013 to September 201430,551September 2014 to September 201533,800September 2015 to September 201632,926September 2016 to September 201733,530September 2017 to September 201832,155Source: NHS Digital These figures include nurses moving to roles in primary care and social care. The Government has put in place a range of measures to increase nursing workforce supply, including a new route in to nursing through Nurse Degree and Nursing Associate apprenticeships. National programmes led by NHS Improvement, NHS Employers and Health Education England are focused on improving staff retention, increasing the number of nurses returning to practice, increasing overseas recruitment and improving sickness absence. Around one million NHS workers will benefit from the new Agenda for Change pay and contract reform deal. The deal includes important changes to pay and non-pay benefits to help support recruitment and retention and boost productivity in return for additional pay investment.

Eating Disorders

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to introduce access and waiting time standards for adults with an eating disorder.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans his Department has to increase funding for community eating disorder services for children and young people.

Lisa Nandy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to increase public awareness of the symptoms of eating disorders.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The National Health Service Long Term Plan commits to test four-week waiting times for adult and older adult community mental health teams, with selected local areas. The exact scope and timelines of these pilots are yet to be finalised, but we envisage that this will include testing waiting times for adult eating disorder services in those areas in receipt of new funding to expand these services. We are committed to ensuring everyone with an eating disorder has access to the best quality of care to meet their needs. We are investing an extra £30 million each year for eating disorders and the NHS is treating more children and young people with an eating disorder than ever before. The NHS Long Term Plan commits to continuing the increase in spending for children and young people’s mental health services, which will grow faster than the overall spend on mental health, which will itself be growing faster than the overall NHS budget. To raise awareness of mental health, including eating disorders, the Department is one of the funders, with Comic Relief and the Big Lottery Funding, of the Time to Change campaign, which is led by Rethink Mental Illness, in partnership with Mind. The campaign’s guidance and advice is available at the following link: https://www.time-to-change.org.uk/about-mental-health/types-problems/eating-disorders

Healthy Start Scheme: Food

Mrs Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the timeframe is for the public consultation on the healthy start welfare food scheme, announced in the paper entitled, Childhood Obesity: A plan for action, published in June 2018.

Jackie Doyle-Price: The Department is considering a range of options for consulting on Healthy Start vouchers. The consultation has been postponed until after European Union exit, when we will be in a better position to identify opportunities to improve the Healthy Start Scheme.

Nurses: Schools

Jonathan Ashworth: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many full-time equivalent school nurses there were in each month since June 2010.

Jackie Doyle-Price: School nurses are commissioned by local authorities and can be employed by a range of provider organisations including health trusts and local authorities themselves. Data collections are by National Health Service electronic staff record (ESR) which does not cover the complete range of these organisations. As a result, it is not possible to provide accurate data on the total size of the school nurse workforce. Data on the number of full-time equivalent school nurses held on the NHS ESR record are attached.



PQ228741 attached table
(Word Document, 27.38 KB)

Hospitals: Parking

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has to reduce or eliminate hospital car parking charges for nurses, doctors and essential healthcare workers.

Stephen Hammond: The level and appropriateness of car parking charges at National Health Service sites is the responsibility of the local NHS trust. We have published the NHS Car Parking Principles which clearly state that concessions should be offered to groups who most need help, such as staff who cannot travel by public transport due to their shift pattern. However, given it is the responsibility of the local NHS trust, the Department has no jurisdiction to reduce or eliminate hospital car parking charges for nurses, doctors and essential healthcare workers.

General Practitioners

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what the average annual cost to a GP's surgery is of providing NHS GP funding formula funded primary care to someone between the ages of 20 to 49 years old.

Steve Brine: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



We do not collect information for primary medical care practices about the cost of providing care to individual patients or cohorts of patients.

Health: Screening

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what estimate his Department has made of the proportion of eligible adults who have received (a) abdominal aortic aneurysm, (b) bowel, (c) breast and (d) cervical screening in (i) Lambeth CCG (ii) Southwark CCG and (iii) England in each year since 2015.

Steve Brine: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening coverage for Lambeth Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), Southwark CCG and England in each year since 2015/16 can be seen in the following table. Abdominal aortic aneurysm screening coverage for Lambeth CCG, Southwark CCG and England, 2015/16 to 2017/18. 2015/16 % (tested)2016/17 % (tested)2017/18 % (tested)Lambeth CCG61.0 (627)67.5 (664)53.3 (582)Southwark CCG58.8 (550)73.4 (680)45.9 (435)England79.9 (227,442)81.1 (228,441)80.8 (230,543)Notes:Sources:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/abdominal-aortic-aneurysm-screening-2015-to-2016-data https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/abdominal-aortic-aneurysm-screening-2016-to-2017-data https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/abdominal-aortic-aneurysm-screening-2017-to-2018-data Total number of people screened is provided in brackets. Coverage is the percentage of the eligible population that is successfully screened within the year plus three months: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/773136/NHS_AAA_screening_programme_standards_data_report_april_2017_to_march_2018.pdf Bowel cancer screening coverage for Lambeth CCG, Southwark CCG and England is attached. Coverage for bowel cancer screening is defined as the number of persons registered to a general practice who are screened adequately in the previous 30 months, which is the routine period in which bowel cancer screening takes place for an individual, divided by the number of eligible persons on the last day of the review period for this report data is taken in April 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. This captures the coverage for the eligible population over the standard period of time in which an individual should attend for a bowel cancer screening. Breast screening coverage for Lambeth CCG, Southwark CCG and England is attached. Coverage for breast screening is defined as the number of women registered to a general practice screened adequately in the previous 36 months, which is the routine period in which breast screening takes place for an individual, divided by the number of eligible women on last day of the review period for this report data is taken in April 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. This captures the coverage for the eligible population over the standard period of time in which a woman should attend for breast screening. Cervical screening coverage for Lambeth CCG, Southwark CCG and England is attached. Coverage for cervical screening is defined as the number of women screened adequately in the previous 42 months (if aged 24-49) or 66 months (if aged 50-64) divided by the number of eligible women on last day of review period for this report data is taken in April 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. This captures the coverage for the eligible population over the standard period of time in which a woman should attend for cervical screening.



PQ229212 attached table
(Word Document, 18.8 KB)

Health: Screening

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, with reference to the National Audit Office report entitled Investigation into the management of Health Screening, published 1 February 2019, what steps his Department is taking to ensure NHS screening laboratories are sufficiently staffed.

Steve Brine: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



The National Health Service Long Term Plan sets out specific workforce actions developed by NHS Improvement and others to have positive impact for workforces, including the screening and diagnostic workforce. NHS Improvement and the Department will discuss these actions when the education and training budget for Health Education England is set in 2019. This includes a proposal to recruit an additional 1,500 clinical and diagnostic staff across seven priority specialisms between 2018 and 2021. With specific reference to the national cervical screening programme that includes NHS laboratories, the replacement of liquid based cytology with human papillomavirus (HPV) testing as the primary screen, has had a significant impact on the ability to maintain staff in the cervical screening programme’s laboratory workforce. The HPV pilot evaluation suggested that the need for a cytology workforce could reduce by as much as 85% when HPV testing is introduced as the primary screen during 2019. NHS England is undertaking a national procurement process to secure providers of laboratory services to deliver HPV primary screening across England. The outcome of the process will be known by the end of April 2019, with national coverage in place by December 2019. To maintain the service and accommodate current staffing levels a majority of existing HPV pilot sites and some non-pilot sites have already converted more of their cervical screening activity to HPV primary screening, freeing up cytology capacity. In addition, Professor Sir Mike Richards is leading a major review of national cancer screening programme pathways as part of the NHS Long Term Plan’s renewed drive to improve care and save lives. Professor Richards’ review is due to report in summer 2019.

Food: Labelling

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, when the results of the consultation on mandating calorie labelling in the out-of-home sector will be published.

Steve Brine: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave to the hon. Member for South West Bedfordshire (Andrew Selous MP) on 23 January 2019 to Question 210542.

Respite Care

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how much funding allocated to councils for respite care has been accessed to date; and what steps his Department is taking to encourage carers to make use of that support.

Caroline Dinenage: Since 2015, the National Health Service contribution to the Better Care Fund (BCF) has included funding to support the implementation of the Care Act 2014, including £130 million which has been made available each year for Carers’ Breaks via the NHS clinical commissioning groups (CCG) minimum contribution to the BCF.Locally agreed between local authorities (LAs) and CCGs, joint BCF plans set out the level of resource that will be dedicated to carer-specific support, including carers’ breaks, and identify how the chosen methods for supporting carers will help to meet key outcomes. These BCF plans are agreed locally at Health and Wellbeing Board level as part of the BCF Assurance process, and funding is released under the premise that the requirements and conditions of the Fund are met. The local level allocation data is not readily available at a national level.We recognise the importance of carers being able to take a break from their caring role. Through the Carers Action Plan, we have committed to promoting best practice for LAs, service providers and commissioners on carer breaks and respite care. In doing so this will support them to help carers to take a break by highlighting best practice and provide advice and information for carers seeking respite breaks.

Social Services: Staff

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether the Government plans to introduce a requirement for social care workers in England to be registered.

Caroline Dinenage: Care workers in England are subject to employer checks and controls including a Disclosure and Barring Service check. Since 2015, healthcare assistants and care support workers have been expected to achieve the care certificate before working unsupervised. This contains 15 standards setting out a common set of skills, knowledge and behaviours that are needed in order to provide safe, high quality and compassionate care. The Government is committed to a proportionate system of safeguards for the professionals who work in the health and care system. Statutory professional regulation should only be used in cases where the risks to the public cannot be mitigated in other ways. We have no plans to introduce a requirement for social care workers in England to be registered in England at this time.

Social Services: Staff

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department is planning on introducing a requirement for social care workers to register with Care Quality Commission.

Caroline Dinenage: Care workers in England are subject to employer checks and controls including a Disclosure and Barring Service check. Since 2015, healthcare assistants and care support workers have been expected to achieve the care certificate before working unsupervised. This contains 15 standards setting out a common set of skills, knowledge and behaviours that are needed in order to provide safe, high quality and compassionate care. The Government is committed to a proportionate system of safeguards for the professionals who work in the health and care system. Statutory professional regulation should only be used in cases where the risks to the public cannot be mitigated in other ways. We have no plans to introduce a requirement for social care workers in England to be registered in England at this time.

Tobacco

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 20 February 2019 to Question 222001, when Public Health England plans to undertake an independent academic review of heated tobacco products.

Steve Brine: Holding answer received on 11 March 2019



Under the Government’s Tobacco Control Plan for England, Public Health England (PHE) is committed to conducting an annual review of the evidence on e-cigarettes and other nicotine delivery systems until the end of the Parliament in 2022. This can be viewed at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/towards-a-smoke-free-generation-tobacco-control-plan-for-england The scope of these reviews includes heated tobacco products and PHE published an evidence review of e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products in February 2018. The review is available at the following link: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/e-cigarettes-and-heated-tobacco-products-evidence-review The Government currently has no plans to conduct a separate review of heated tobacco products outside of the programme.

Care Homes: Standards

Paul Farrelly: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies of the conclusions of Independent Age into the performance of care homes across England that a third of local authorities experienced care home ratings falling.

Caroline Dinenage: The Care Act 2014 placed a duty on councils to offer a meaningful choice of services, so that people have a range of high quality, appropriate care options to choose from and that they get the services that best meet their needs. 83% of adult social care providers are rated as good or outstanding by the Care Quality Commission, as at March 2019, and the Department is working with the adult social care sector to implement Quality Matters – a shared commitment to take action to achieve high quality adult social care for service users, families, carers and everyone working in the sector. The Green Paper, to be published at the earliest opportunity, will set out our proposals for a sustainable system in the long term and address issues related to the quality of care and variation in practice.

Health and Care Professions Council: Fees and Charges

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the potential effect on staffing levels of the changes to the Health and Care Professions Council registration fees from October 2019.

Stephen Hammond: Following public consultation, the Health and Care Professions Council’s (HCPC) is planning to raise its annual fees by £16. If adopted, the HCPC’s annual registration fee will rise from £90 to £106 a year from October 2019. The HCPC registration fees will remain the lowest of any of the United Kingdom-wide health and care regulators. Registration fees are tax-deductible and this fee rise will amount to just over £1 a month extra for most of the HCPC’s registrants. The Government has made no assessment of the potential effect on staffing levels of the changes to the HCPC’s registration fees from October 2019. The HCPC is independent of Government, funded by registrants’ fees on a costs recovery basis.

Common Travel Area: Health Services

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2018 to question 153188, whether the commitment to reciprocal Common Travel Area rights to health care includes cross-border provision across the Irish land border.

Stephen Hammond: The United Kingdom Government is committed to maintaining the Common Travel Area and protecting the rights enjoyed by UK and Irish nationals when in each other’s state. This includes rights to access public services which will be preserved on a reciprocal basis for UK and Irish nationals in the other’s state.

Prime Minister

Crime

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Prime Minister, with reference to her comments of 4 March 2019 that there is no direct correlation between certain crimes and police numbers, whether she has made an assessment of which crimes do have a direct correlation with police numbers.

Mrs Theresa May: I refer the Hon. Member to my answers during Prime Minister’s Questions on 6 March 2019, Official Report, Column 951.

Department for Work and Pensions

Universal Credit

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Family support, housing and child maintenance to the Work and Pensions Select Committee on 21 November 2018, what progress has been made on introducing implicit consent in universal credit for organisations offering support to claimants.

Justin Tomlinson: We have had a number of workshops with stakeholders during which consent has been discussed. As we said in our response to the Social Security Advisory Committee, we will do further work on explicit consent. This activity will include working with claimants and their representatives to ensure the process works effectively for vulnerable claimants to access the service. We expect to complete this in the autumn.

Universal Credit

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 190938, whether (a) for a closed universal credit claim there is read-only access to the payment statements as well as the journal and (b) there is read-only access to all closed previous universal credit claims even after a new claim has been opened.

Alok Sharma: In the event of a closed claim, claimants can still see their previous journal entries and payment statements in a read-only format. If a claimant opens a new claim, this read-only access will no longer be accessible to the claimant. However, if a claimant, who has had a previous claim closed, needs to access their previous statements or their journal, a case manager can access them on their behalf and provide them with any information they might require.

Personal Independence Payment: Medical Examinations

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many medical assessments for personal independence payment have been held in private gyms and spas in (a) County Durham, (b) North East of England and (c) the UK in each of the last three years.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Carer's Allowance: Appeals

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what estimate she has made of the length of time claimants are waiting for a decision to be made on their mandatory reconsideration of carer’s allowance claims in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Jobcentres: Staff

Deidre Brock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what purposes jobcentre staff will visit claimants in hospital.

Alok Sharma: Officers from the DWP Visiting Team, as appropriate, visit claimants to support them in making an application for benefit or for on-going administration of their claim – for example if they have a change in their circumstances. The majority of visits conducted by DWP take place in a claimant’s home. However, an officer can also arrange an appointment at an alternative place, such as an information point (surgery) or hospital, if a claimant is deemed to be vulnerable or is in need of additional support when making an application for benefit or for on-going support. We may also visit centenarians to confirm they can receive and appreciate a congratulatory birthday card from the Queen.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, for what reasons applicants for universal credit are subject to a five week assessment period before being entitled to claim that benefit.

Alok Sharma: I refer the Hon. Member to my answer to Question 222590 21 February 2019.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what circumstances deductions are made from a claimant's universal credit payment in order to contribute to her Department's administration costs; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in what circumstances a universal credit claimant will be advised by a work coach to close his or her current application and make a new application; and if she will make a statement.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Social Security Benefits: Internet

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with reference to written statement HCWS1376, what steps she is taking to ensure that the benefits of a single digital platform are extended to claimants who do not have access to computers or the internet.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, in the most recent month for which data is available, in what proportion of universal credit assessments for working claimants was income data taken from (a) RTI data provided by HMRC and (b) claimants' payslips.

Alok Sharma: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Universal Credit: Disqualification

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 25 February 2019 to Question 223830, if he will make an estimate of the cost of finding out what proportion of universal credit claimants have not been in receipt of any benefits in the 180 days following a sanction decision.

Alok Sharma: Finding out what proportion of Universal Credit claimants have not been in receipt of any benefits in the 180 days following a sanction decision would require DWP to link together several complex datasets and quality assure the results. It is estimated that due to the time it would take to do this (several months), the cost of compiling the requested information is likely to exceed £850.

Pension Credit

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, whether her Department has written to people who will be affected by the changes to pension credit entitlement which come into force on 15 May 2019 to inform them that they will no longer be entitled to claim pension credit if their partner is not of state pension age.

Stuart C. McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps she has taken to publicise the changes to pension credit entitlement which come into force on 15 May 2019 to (a) couples who will no longer receive that entitlement because one partner is not of state pension age and (b) other people.

Guy Opperman: The mixed age couple policy was legislated for in the Welfare Reform Act 2012 and then the commencement order was that the mixed age couple policy change will come into force on 15 May 2019, which was announced on 14 January 2019. Following the announcement we are implementing comprehensive plans to raise awareness of the change among people who may be affected. The Department has written directly to mixed-age couples who are already in receipt of Pension Credit or Housing Benefit for pensioners to inform them of the changes and encourage them to find out what it could mean for them. Importantly the letters explain that mixed age couples already claiming Pension Credit and/or Housing Benefit for pensioners immediately before 15 May will not be affected for as long as they remain in receipt of either benefit after that date, and that their State Pension will not be affected. This is in addition to providing information on gov.uk and through existing departmental channels. The Department’s staff in Pension Centres and Jobcentres are able to provide help and advice about the change, as will staff in local authorities who administer Housing Benefit. The Department has also worked with relevant organisations, including providing them with a fact sheet to ensure that accurate information is available in the places where people are most likely to seek information.

Universal Credit

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how many home consultations were (a) requested, (b) granted and (c) refused for work capability assessments for universal credit claimants in the last 12 months.

Sarah Newton: The Department for Work and Pensions has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Children: Maintenance

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what powers the Child Maintenance Group has to recover funds from a parent reluctant to support their child or children; and how many times each power has been used in each of the last three years.

Justin Tomlinson: The Child Maintenance Service has a range of collection and enforcement powers, including deducting directly from a non-resident parent’s earnings; lump sum and regular deductions from a range of bank accounts; deductions from benefits; sharing non-compliant parents’ information with credit reference agencies; instructing enforcement agents to take control of goods; placing a charging order on property owned by a non-compliant parent and if necessary forcing the sale of the property; applying to the magistrates court to disqualify a non-compliant parent from holding or obtaining a driving licence or British passport, or to commit them to prison. The latest statistics on the actions taken by the Child Maintenance Service to recover funds from non-compliant parents are published in Table 11 (“Enforcement Actions”) of the Child Maintenance Service Statistics. This includes data from June 2015.  This highlights different enforcement actions taken by the Child Maintenance Service, including the number of times each type of action has been initiated each quarter. It is available online at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-the-2012-statutory-child-maintenance-scheme. The latest publication contains figures complete to the end of September 2018. Child Maintenance Service statistics up to the quarter ending December 2018 will be published in March 2019. Please note we do not publish a full detailed breakdown of all the possible types of enforcement actions used, and we do not have such information readily available. Also note that figures are rounded to the nearest 100.

Social Security Benefits: Reciprocal Arrangements

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, pursuant to the Answer of 19 June 2018 to Question 153188, Common Travel Area, whether the Government's commitment to reciprocal Common Travel Area rights to social welfare entitlements and benefits for Irish nationals will encompass all social security provision currently accessible to Irish nationals in the UK under EU free movement rights.

Alok Sharma: This Government is committed to preserving the reciprocal social security rights of UK and Irish nationals established through the Common Travel Area arrangements and currently provided under EU law. The Government signed an agreement on social security with Ireland on 1 February which, subject to ratification, will ensure that Irish and UK nationals residing and/or working in the UK or Ireland do not lose their rights to social security benefits as a result of the UK’s exit from the EU.The agreement was laid for consideration by Parliament on 12 February as Command Paper 49, in accordance with section 20 of the Constitutional Reform and Governance Act 2010.

Home Office

Home Office: Overseas Aid

Mr Alistair Carmichael: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to improve the transparency of his Department’s aid budget.

Caroline Nokes: The Government transparency target set out in the 2015 Aid Strategy commits all Official Development Assistance (ODA) spending departments to achieve ‘Good’ or ‘Very Good’ in the International Aid Transparency Index (IATI) by 2020. The Home Office is working to improve the transparency of our its aid projects and achieve at least a ‘Good’ rating’ on the Aid Transparency Index by 2020. This will involve publishing detailed information on Home Office ODA projects, whilst safeguarding UK national security obligations, and individual’s’ personal information.

Visas: Russia

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether he will expedite visa applications for Russian human rights defenders, journalists and civil society activists wishing to visit the UK to discuss the human rights situation in Russia; and whether the Government will provide temporary visas for sanctuary, or full asylum, for Russian human rights defenders and journalists who need to leave Russia due to concerns for their safety.

Caroline Nokes: All visa applications are considered on their individual merits and in line with UK immigration rules and guidance.As a signatory to the 1951 Refugee Convention, the UK fully considers all asylum claims lodged in the UK. We do not consider asylum claims lodged outside UK territory and there is no provision in the Immigration Rules to allow someone to travel to the UK for temporary protection or to claim asylum. We recognise the continuing concerns of key partners domestically and internationally around the human rights situation in Russia, and we remain committed to continuing engagement with them on this issue.

Motorways: Speed Limits

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many people have been issued speeding fines on the (a) M1, (b) M2, (c) M3, (d) M4, (e) M5 and (f) M6 in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office does not hold the information requested centrally.The Home Office collects and publishes data on the number of fixed penalty notices (FPNs) issued for speed limit offences. An FPN is a prescribed financial penalty issued to a motorist following a range of motoring offences, such as speed limit offences. Detailed information on the location where the offence took place is not collected or held by the Home Office.Data on FPNs for speed limit offences can be found in the ‘Police Powers and Procedures, England and Wales’ statistical bulletin, which can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-powers-and-procedures-england-and-wales

Educational Testing Service: Assessments

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what recent discussions his Department has had with Educational Testing Service (ETS) on ETS's allegations of cheating by overseas students taking the test of English for international communication in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: Significant detail has previously been given to the Home Affairs Select Committee about the steps that the Home Office took to seek to ensure the processes ETS used to label results “invalid” was robust. More recently discussions with ETS have focused on the ongoing criminal trials of those believed to have helped organise and facilitate fraudulent activity

British Nationals Abroad: Deportation

John Woodcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, how many UK nationals were deported by another country to the UK in each of the last five years for which records are available.

Caroline Nokes: We do not hold the data requested.

Abduction: Children

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of the UK leaving the EU without a deal on the ability of UK police to deal with child abduction cases.

Caroline Nokes: The Government is committed to ensuring the safety and security of UK and EU citizens. Our intention remains to establish a comprehensive and legally binding agreement on internal security which would enable continuing cooperation based on EU measures.However, we are preparing for all eventualities. In a no-deal scenario, UK law enforcement agencies will use well-established alternative mechanisms to co-operate with partners on a police-to-police basis. This will include use of the INTERPOL secure network and pre-existing bi-lateral channels to facilitate police cooperation on child abduction cases.

Interpol

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what diplomatic steps he has taken to promote the correct usage and proper functioning of Interpol red notices among his foreign counterparts.

Mr Nick Hurd: INTERPOL is a crucial organisation enabling police to police cooperation between 194 member countries.Any misuse of INTERPOL notices is taken very seriously by this government.The Home Office continues to work with INTERPOL and the National Crime Agency (NCA), which acts as the UK’s National Central Bureau for INTERPOL, on this matter and strongly supports INTERPOL’s efforts to ensure systems are in place that protect individuals’ human rights. Article 3 of INTERPOL's Constitution strictly forbids any intervention or activities of a political, military, religious or racial character.

Vetting: Social Workers

Darren Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce the time taken to process DBS checks for potential care workers.

Victoria Atkins: Sector level information is not collected on a mandatory basis by the DBS as part of its checks, therefore it is not possible to provide or assess this information.

Entry Clearances: Biometrics

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when travellers from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States will be able to use eGates at UK ports.

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, at which ports will travellers from Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand and the United States be able to use eGates.

Caroline Nokes: Border Force is on track to launch the expanded ePassport gate eligibility for nationals of Australia, Canada, Japan, New Zealand, and the United States as well as Singapore and South Korea by summer 2019. This is in line with the Chancellor’s announcement during the autumn budget 2018.Nationals of these countries will be able to use ePassport gates where they are present at any UK port and juxtaposed location.

Missing Persons: Dementia

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to encourage emergency services to promote the Herbert Protocol for people living with dementia in their local areas.

Victoria Atkins: People who go missing are often the most vulnerable in society. Initiatives such as the Herbert Protocol, are important tools to reduce the duration of a missing incident.Implementation of the Herbert Protocol is an operational decision for individual police forces. The forthcoming update to the Government’s Missing Children and Adults Strategy, due to be published in the coming months, aims to raise awareness of effective practices, such as the Herbert Protocol, and encourages all agencies to work together to safeguard vulnerable individuals and to reduce missing incidents.

Entry Clearances: EU Nationals

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, whether EU citizens will be able to enter the UK with an EEA National identity card under current terms after the UK leaves the EU.

Caroline Nokes: As set out in the Government’s white paper ‘The UK’s future skills-based immigration system’ (Cm 9722, published 19 December 2018), if we leave the EU with a deal, we intend to phase out the use of insecure national identity cards as soon as practicable after the end of the implementation period and will give fair notice of moving to a different arrangement, and time to adjust.EU citizens covered by the citizens’ rights deal will be able to travel using a national identity card or a passport, as now, for five years from the end of the implementation period (so until 31 December 2025) and thereafter if the cards meet the relevant International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) biometric standards.As set out in DExEU’s policy paper on citizens’ rights (published 6 December 2018), in the event that we leave the EU without a deal, EU citizens will be able to enter the UK by showing either a valid national identity card or a passport until 31 December 2020.

Visas: Applications

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment he has made of the accessibility of online visa applications.

Caroline Nokes: UK Visas and Immigration are rolling out a new application platform across all application routes. The new application forms have been built to comply with the Government Digital Service standard, which in turn ensures compliance with wider standards on usability and accessibility.Extensive testing has taken place with real users of the service, observing how they interact with the forms and adapting the design and questions in accordance with feedback from those testing sessions. In addition, we offer Assisted Digital support for customers who have difficulty completing online immigration applications, for example, if they do not have the appropriate access, skills or confidence to complete an online application without assistance.Support is provided over the phone or face-to-face in locations across the UK, in a library or other voluntary sector centre or by a home visit from a tutor. This service has been available since September 2017 to customers who are based in the UK and has recently been extended to include the EU Settlement Scheme.

Visas: Married People

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many spouse visas were granted on the basis of exceptional circumstances where the sponsor did not meet the minimum income requirement in each year since 2012.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Office does not collate or publish the information requested. Published statistics on spouse visas can be found at:https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/immigration-statistics-year-ending-december-2018/list-of-tables#visas

Immigration: Married People

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the minimum income requirement on the integration of non-EEA partners of British citizens.

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will publish the findings of his Department’s most recent review into the effects of the minimum income requirement.

Caroline Nokes: The Supreme Court has upheld the lawfulness of the minimum income requirement, which prevents burdens on the taxpayer and promotes integration, ruling that it strikes a fair balance between the interests of those wishing to sponsor a partner to settle in the UK and of the community in general. The Court found that the minimum income requirement is not a breach of the right to respect for private and family life under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights and is not discriminatory.We continue to keep the family Immigration Rules under review and make adjustments in light of feedback on their operation and impact. Our overall assessment is that the family Immigration Rules are having the right impact and are helping to ensure public confidence in the immigration system.

Refugees: Children

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps he is taking to reduce the number of dangerous journeys being taken by unaccompanied child refugees with family in the UK.

Caroline Nokes: The Government has a number of policies in place to prevent children from undertaking dangerous journeys to reach family in the UK – our family reunion policy, the Dublin Regulation, and the Mandate resettlement scheme.This Government’s family reunion policy allows a partner and children under 18 of those granted protection in the UK to join them here, if they formed part of the family unit before the sponsor fled their country. Under this policy, we have granted visas to over 26,000 partners and children of those granted protection in the UK in the last five years – that is over 5,000 a year. There are also separate provisions in the Immigration Rules to allow extended family to sponsor children to come to the UK where there are serious and compelling circumstances.We continue to meet our commitments to transfer unaccompanied children in another EU Member State with qualifying family in the UK, under the Dublin Regulation for the purpose of assessing their asylum claim. We accept all requests for transfer of an unaccompanied child’s asylum claims with qualifying family in the UK where transfer is in the child’s best interests.On a specific point, as part of the Sandhurst Treaty, signed between the UK and France in January 2018, we committed to deploying a UK Asylum Liaison Officer to support the transfer of eligible children under section 67 and the Dublin Regulation. We also allocated £3.6 million specifically to fund the development of the Dublin process to support transfers of eligible children to the UK, including training for those working with unaccompanied children, family tracing and targeted information campaigns.And lastly, the Mandate resettlement scheme resettles recognised refugees who have a close family member in the UK who is willing to accommodate them. The refugee must be a minor child, spouse, or parent or grandparent aged over 65 of someone in the UK who is willing to accommodate and support them.

Refugees: Children

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many unaccompanied minors have been resettled in the UK under section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016.

Caroline Nokes: The government remains fully committed to delivering on our commitment to relocate the specified number of 480 children under Section 67 of the Immigration Act 2016 and we continue to work very closely with participating States -France, Greece and Italy - and local authorities and delivery partners in order to meet this commitment as soon as possible.Over 220 unaccompanied children have been transferred to the UK, and transfers of eligible children are ongoing. We will not provide a running commentary on numbers and will publish the details once all children are in the UK.

Windrush Lessons Learned Review

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, when his Department plans to announce the final results of the Windrush lessons learned review.

Caroline Nokes: The Home Secretary is absolutely determined to learn from and right the wrongs of the past, and he looks forward to receiving the lessons learned report when the review concludes. He will consider the recommendations from the review carefully and announce appropriate action.

Windrush Generation: Compensation

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate his Department has made of the length of time it will take to fully compensate everyone eligible under the Windrush compensation scheme.

Caroline Nokes: The Government has committed to putting into place the Windrush compensation scheme and is grateful to those who responded to the public consultation that closed on 16 November.As the Home Secretary announced on 8 February, we are considering the outcome of the consultation exercise and will respond as soon as possible with further details, including when the scheme will be open for claims and for how long.

Visas: Sponsorship

Paul Blomfield: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many applications for Tier 2 (General) Certificate of Sponsorship have been submitted in each month since November 2018; how many of those applications were granted; and how many of those applications were refused as a result of the annual cap having been reached.

Caroline Nokes: No applications for Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship have been refused in the period in question due to the cap being reached under Tier 2 General. The information requested is set out below. Restricted Certificates of Sponsorship (RCoS)Month Submitted Granted Refused as a result of the Cap being reachedNov-18 2206 1919 0Dec-18 2422 2018 0Jan-19 1838 1597 0Feb-19 2093 1691 0 Applications can be refused as they don’t meet the criteria set out under Tier General. In addition, applications are rejected for being incomplete, withdrawn by the sponsor or kept under review to be decided at a subsequent monthly allocation panel. This accounts for the difference between the number of applications submitted in a month and the number of grants in the same month.

Immigration: EU Nationals

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, pursuant to the Answer of 5 February 2019 to Question 213222 on Immigration: EU Nationals, what the differences are between the rights retained by Irish citizens under the (a) EU Settlement Scheme and (b) Common Travel Area.

Caroline Nokes: Irish citizens have long-held a status in the UK that, like EU Treaty rights, allows them to live, work, study and access benefits and services without being subject to a requirement to obtain leave to enter or remain. This status will not be affected by the UK leaving the EU. Irish citizens resident in the UK can apply to the EU Settlement Scheme if they choose, though they are not required to given that the relevant rights are protected under the Common Travel Area (CTA) arrangements.The arrangements for existing close family members, who are not Irish citizens or British citizens, to remain in the UK with, or join, EU citizens resident in the UK in the future are not provided for by the CTA arrangements but under the draft Withdrawal Agreement. Irish citizens will be able to support an application from family members without applying to the EU Settlement Scheme themselves.

Police: Road Traffic Control

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how may road policing officers there have been in each year since 2009.

Mr Nick Hurd: The Home Office collects and publishes data annually on the primary function of police officers, broken down by Police Force Area, as part of the ‘Police workforce, England and Wales’ statistical bulletins, which can be accessed here:https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/police-workforce-england-and-walesThese data include officers whose primary function is “Road Policing”, and officers with multiple responsibilities are recorded under their primary function.

Northern Ireland Office

Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998

Dr Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, whether the provision in the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 capping time spent in prison for Troubles-related offences at two years applies to members of the (a) armed forces, (b) police and (c) security services and (b) paramilitaries; and if she will make a statement.

Karen Bradley: Under the early release scheme that formed part of the 1998 Belfast Agreement and was given legislative effect by the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998, qualifying prisoners may apply for early release (subject to certain conditions) after they have served two years in prison. Currently anyone convicted of Troubles-related scheduled offences and serving their sentence in Northern Ireland would be eligible to apply to the scheme. Release is on licence, such licence being subject to revocation for noncompliance with certain conditions - as has happened in a number of cases. When a licence is revoked an individual is liable to be returned to prison to serve out their original sentence. The provisions set out in the draft Northern Ireland (Stormont House Agreement) Bill on which we recently consulted would amend the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 to extend this two year accelerated release scheme for Troubles-related offences to those serving sentences in Great Britain. The Sentences Act does not cover offences committed before August 1973, so the draft Bill proposes to extend the early release scheme to cover the start of the Troubles (January 1968-August 1973). The Government has no intention to extend early release to offences committed after the date of the Belfast Agreement in April 1998. There is no proposal in the consultation to do this and the Government is not contemplating it. The legacy consultation concluded in October and we expect to finish our analysis of the 17,000 plus responses shortly. It is right we take the time to consider each response fully and I will set out the next steps in this process as soon as I can.

Treasury

Banks: Closures

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make an assessment of the effect of recent bank branch closures on (a) rural and suburban communities and (b) the community of Sheffield Hallam constituency.

John Glen: The Treasury does not make assessments of the bank branch network. The decision to close a branch is a commercial issue for the management team of the bank. However, Government believes it is important the impact on communities must be understood, considered and mitigated where possible. The Financial Conduct Authority undertook an analysis of branch closures as part of their Strategic Review of Retail Banking Business Models. This analysis can be found in Annex 1 of the final report (https://www.fca.org.uk/publication/multi-firm-reviews/strategic-review-retail-banking-business-models-final-report.pdf)

Financial Conduct Authority

David Duguid: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to increase the accountability of the Financial Conduct Authority; and if he will make a statement.

John Glen: The Government has taken steps to make the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) accountable to HM Treasury, Parliament and the public. For example, under the Financial Services Act 2012, the FCA is required to produce annual reports and accounts which are laid before Parliament. It is subject to a full audit by the National Audit Office, which has the ability to launch VFM studies on the FCA. Both the FCA CEO and Chair have regular meetings with the Treasury Select Committee. HM Treasury has the power to direct the FCA to investigate and report on possible regulatory failure. HM Treasury also makes appointments to the FCA Board (including the CEO and Chair). The Government has also legislated to create a single complaints scheme with an independent Complaints Commissioner responsible for investigating complaints against the financial regulators, including the FCA. FCA rules are subject to judicial review and the Upper Tribunal can also review the merits of certain firm specific decisions. The Government believes that the existing accountability mechanisms are appropriate.

Financial Conduct Authority

David Duguid: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what his Department's policy is on the statutory immunity of the Financial Conduct Authority in cases where it is found to have acted negligently.

John Glen: The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (FSMA) provides the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) with immunity from liability in damages, including damages arising as a result of negligence. It is important, however, to bear in mind that this statutory immunity does not confer immunity from (i) claims that property rights protected by Article 1 Protocol 1 of the Human Rights Act 1998 have been unlawfully interfered with, or (ii) claims for judicial review of the FCA's actions. The statutory immunity of the FCA is important in enabling it to take a robust approach to regulation. This immunity allows the FCA to focus its resources on pursuing its objectives without the distraction of claims that may frustrate these efforts, or the risk that firms can delay supervisory interventions through vexatious litigation. The FCA’s statutory immunity is held to account by an Independent Complaints Commissioner who can consider complaints about the way the FCA has carried out, or failed to carry out, its role. The Commissioner has powers to recommend the payment of compensation and to require the FCA to publish its response to the recommendation, for example where it decides not to pay compensation.

Debt Collection: Corruption

Laura Smith: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent steps he has taken to (a) reform and (b) tackle widespread corruption in the debt collection industry.

John Glen: The government transferred the regulation of debt collection industry acvtivity to the Financial Conduct Authority in 2014. FCA regulation of debt collection agencies (DCAs) provides strong protections for consumers. In particular, DCAs under FCA regulation have to comply with the FCA’s high-level principle to treat customers fairly, offer appropriate forbearance, and signpost individuals to free, impartial debt advice should a consumer be in default, or in arrears difficulty.

Women in Finance Charter

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of widening the scope of the Women in Finance Charter to other sectors of the economy.

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment his Department has made of the potential merits of the conclusions of the AAT MP Survey Results, published on 21 January 2019, which found that 54 per cent of hon. Members would support changing the Women in Finance Charter to incorporate all sectors of the economy.

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what discussions he has had with Cabinet colleagues on the widening of the Women in Finance Charter to cover other sectors of the economy.

Kirsty Blackman: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will rename the Women in Finance Charter to reflect the contribution of women across the whole of the economy.

John Glen: It is the Government’s aspiration to see diversity across the UK economy. A diverse workforce is good for business – it is good for customers, for profitability and workplace culture. HM Treasury’s Women in Finance Charter reflects our ambition to see an improved gender balance in the financial services industry. So far, 300 financial services firms have signed the Charter, committing to implement strategic actions to improve their gender balance at a senior level. The AAT MP Survey Results positively highlights the need to take action to improve gender diversity across all sectors, as we work towards gender parity as a society. We recognise that there is still further work to be done to address the gender imbalance in the wider economy, and the need to adopt an industry-led approach so that new initiatives are tailored to the issues each sector is facing. We are pleased to have already seen other sectors take action to improve their gender balance and establish their own initiatives including the Women in Maritime Pledge (the forerunner to the Women in Maritime Charter), the Women in Aviation and Aerospace Charter and the Tech Talent Charter. We are supportive of this approach and encourage other sectors to consider what further action they can take to improve their gender balance. We will continue to focus on strengthening industry-led work in this area, and sharing knowledge and best practice across sectors, to maximise their impact on the wider economy.

Nuclear Reactors

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference his oral contribution on 5 March 2019, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy on an industrial strategy for small modular nuclear reactors.

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his oral contribution of 5 March 2018, Official Report, column 788, how much money has been spent from the public purse on preparing for a potential industrial strategy for small modular reactors.

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to his oral contribution of 5 March 2018, Official Report, how much the Government plans to spend on a potential industrial strategy for small modular reactors.

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his oral contribution of 5 March 2018, Official Report, column 788 whether it his policy to provide as much fiscal support to a north sea oil and gas sector deal as is given to any potential industrial strategy for small modular reactors.

Drew Hendry: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, with reference to his oral contribution of 5 March 2018, Official Report, column 788 whether it his policy to provide as much fiscal support for renewable energy as is given to any potential industrial strategy for small modular reactors.

Robert Jenrick: The government recognises the potential for the UK to become a leader in developing the next generations of nuclear technologies, provided there is demonstrable value for money for consumers and taxpayers. The Nuclear Sector Deal published last year outlines the government’s ongoing commitment to nuclear innovation, including a new framework to support the deployment of small modular reactors. Up to £56m is available to support the development of advanced modular reactors, including up to £44m for a Feasibility and Development Project and £12m for the Office of Nuclear Regulation and Environment Agency to build the necessary capability. The government provides extensive support for renewable energy, with around £10bn of annual of low carbon levies supporting the sector and up to £557 million (2011/12 prices) of further support available, starting with the next Contract for Difference allocation round, which will open by May 2019. These auctions are expected to secure 1-2GW of low carbon generation each year in the 2020s. The government has implemented a number of measures to support the oil and gas sector, including £2.3bn of fiscal changes since 2015, £45m to support exploration, and the introduction of Transferable Tax History to aid investment in late-life assets. As outlined in the Industrial Strategy White Paper, no new government funding is available for sector deals. However, we welcome the way industry has come together under the leadership of Trevor Garlick to enable elements of the proposed sector deal to take shape. The government will continue its close engagement with the sector to consider what we can best do together to strengthen our partnership.

Individual Savings Accounts

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many people have invested in an Innovative Finance ISA; and what assessment he has made of the level of uptake of that ISA.

John Glen: According to HMRC statistics, 31,000 innovative finance ISA accounts were subscribed to during the 2017-18 tax year. The Innovative Finance ISA increases the investment options available to investors and forms part of the wider ISA family. An attractive market for peer to peer lending within ISA already exists, with sufficient providers offering a product which meets the needs of lenders and investors.

Bank Cards: Fees and Charges

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the comparative merits of flat rate Interchange Fees as opposed to fees proportional to the value of the transaction; and whether his Department plans to exercise section 7 of the Interchange Fee (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2018 to decrease the per transaction interchange fee.

John Glen: The Government is open to hearing views on this issue, and digital payments more broadly, as evidenced by its call for evidence on cash and digital payments in the new economy. Amongst other things, this explored how the Government can best support digital payments. The Government will formally respond to the call for evidence in due course. The European Commission is in the process of reviewing the effectiveness of the Interchange Fee Regulation as part of its usual process. The Payment Systems Regulator, who is the UK’s lead competent authority for the Interchange Fee Regulation, is also conducting a review into the supply of card-acquiring services. Amongst other things, this review will examine the fees merchants pay for these services. The Government has therefore not made a formal assessment of the Interchange Fee Regulation.

Tax Avoidance

Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that the review of the loan charge is undertaken (a) independently and (b) rigorously.

Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that the review of the loan charge will report by the end of March 2019.

Mel Stride: Disguised Remuneration (DR) schemes are contrived arrangements that pay loans in place of ordinary remuneration with the sole purpose of avoiding income tax and National Insurance contributions. The loans are provided on terms that mean they are not repaid in practice, so they are no different to normal income and are, and always have been, taxable. The Government chose to accept Section 95 and will lay a report by 30 March which will review the effect of changes made to the time limits for recovery or assessment where tax loss arises in relation to offshore tax, and compare these with other legislation including the charge on DR loans. The Government will consider all the relevant evidence available in the timeframe legislated by Finance Act 2019. The charge on DR loans is unchanged as a result of the new clause and will apply to DR loan balances on 5 April 2019. HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has also widely publicised a simplification to the process for those who want to settle their use of DR schemes before the loan charge arises on 5 April 2019. DR scheme users who currently have an income of less than £50,000 and are no longer engaging in tax avoidance can agree a payment plan of up to five years without the need to give HMRC detailed information about their income and assets. This arrangement has been extended to seven years for scheme users who have an income of less than £30,000. Those who consider they need more than five (or seven) years to pay what they owe or who earn £50,000 or more should still come forward and talk to HMRC about payment terms. There are no defined minimum or maximum time periods for payment arrangements but HMRC will ask for more information including details of their income and assets so that they can tailor any payment plan to their individual financial circumstances. Anyone who is worried about being able to pay what they owe should get in touch with HMRC as soon as possible. Since the announcement of the 2019 loan charge at Budget 2016, HMRC has now agreed settlements on disguised remuneration schemes with employers and individuals totalling over £1 billion. Around 85% of the settlement yield since 2016 is from employers, with less than 15% from individuals.

Tax Avoidance

Nic Dakin: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what steps he is taking to ensure that HMRC treats people affected by the loan charge in a sensitive and supportive but appropriate way.

Mel Stride: HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) wants to help people put things right and is working hard to help individuals get out of avoidance for good.Anybody who wants to settle their tax affairs ahead of the 2019 loan charge or who is worried about being able to pay what they owe should get in touch with HMRC as soon as possible.HMRC have already provided a number of assurances, including that they will never force somebody to sell their main home to pay for their DR debt, or the loan charge. HMRC has also widely publicised a simplification to the process for those who want to settle their use of DR schemes before the loan charge arises on 5 April 2019. DR scheme users who currently have an income of less than £50,000 and are no longer engaging in tax avoidance can agree a payment plan of up to five years without the need to give HMRC detailed information about their income and assets. This arrangement has been extended to seven years for scheme users who have an income of less than £30,000. Those who consider they need more than five (or seven) years to pay what they owe or who earn £50,000 or more should still come forward and talk to HMRC about payment terms. There are no defined minimum or maximum time periods for payment arrangements but HMRC will ask for more information including details of their income and assets so that they can tailor any payment plan to their individual financial circumstances. HMRC takes its duty of care very seriously for vulnerable people and people who are worried or anxious about their tax affairs. HMRC has guidance and training in place for their staff on how to provide support, and can refer customers to HMRC’s specialist team for those who need enhanced support where appropriate. They will tailor their support to meet the needs of the individual.

Revenue and Customs: Staff

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many staff were employed in HMRC's Office of the General Counsel and Solicitor in each year since 2010.

Mel Stride: The table below shows the full time equivalent (FTE) staff in Solicitor’s Office and Legal Services on 31 March for each financial year since 2010. YearFTE2010/11367.702011/12347.172012/13348.672013/14370.892014/15373.682015/16397.112016/17996.762017/181032.00 In April 2016 internal restructuring saw our Operational Appeals and Reviews Units merge with our Solicitor’s Office to bring all HMRC litigation activity into one business area.

UK Trade with EU

Mr Adrian Bailey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, how many of the traders identified by HMRC as being intra-EU only traders have had an EORI number issued; and how many of those EORI numbers been issued since the start of the Government's day one no deal business readiness campaign.

Mel Stride: UK traders that only trade with the EU will need an EORI number in the event the UK leaves the EU without a deal. HMRC estimated that in 2017 there were 144,000 VAT-registered traders that only traded with the EU. A separate estimate indicates there are approximately 100,000 non VAT-registered traders that trade only with the EU. The latest HMRC validated data shows that in the three months to 1 March 2019, which covers the period from the start of the business readiness campaign, there were 53,098 registrations for an EORI number, and numbers are growing each week. As HMRC only holds information on UK-EU traders that are VAT-registered, a large population of traders would not automatically receive an EORI number if they were automatically generated. Providing numbers for some traders that needed it, but not all, would send mixed messages about whether it was required. Furthermore, the VAT registration details for a trader can be different from the trading entity that needs an EORI number, meaning automated registration could result in registering the wrong entity. The Government has focused on ensuring the process of applying for an EORI is free and very quick, it currently takes around 10 minutes. The Government has also recently announced temporary simplified procedures to make importing and exporting easier. To register for these simplifications, traders will need a UK EORI number. Therefore, completing the application is a good first step for traders.

Credit Unions

David Linden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what support his Department is providing to Credit Unions to improve their governance policies.

John Glen: The government remains committed to supporting credit unions, which provide vital services to financially under-served communities and contribute to the diversity of the UK’s financial services sector. At Autumn Budget 2018, the Chancellor announced a two-year pilot of a new prize-linked savings scheme offered through credit unions. This will support the credit union sector through increased membership, awareness and deposits, as well as encouraging participants to build up savings to help them cope with financial shocks. The Chancellor also announced a new £2 million challenge fund to promote innovative solutions from the UK’s Fintech sector to address challenges faced by social and community lenders, including credit unions. This Government believes improving governance in the sector is best led by the sector itself, and supports ABCUL’s work in this regard.

Santander Group

David Linden: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, which of his Ministers have met with officials from Santander bank in the last two years; and on what dates those meetings took place.

John Glen: Treasury Ministers and officials have meetings with a wide variety of organisations in the public and private sectors, including Santander Bank, as part of the process of policy development and delivery. Details of ministerial and permanent secretary meetings with external organisations on departmental business are published on a quarterly basis and are available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/hmt-ministers-meetings-hospitality-gifts-and-overseas-travel.

Public Works Loan Board

Chris Philp: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, pursuant to the Answer of 4 March 2019 to Question 225566 on Public Works Loan Board, what the purpose was of each loan since 2010; and if his Department will include that information as part of the monthly loans report.

Elizabeth Truss: Information about the purpose of Public Works Loan Board loans is not centrally held. The Public Works Loan Board operates as a non-discretionary lender, and it is not therefore part of its arrangements to require information on the reasons for, or circumstances surrounding, loan applications or borrowing activity. Responsibility for local authority spending and borrowing decisions lies with locally-elected council Members, who are democratically accountable to their electorates. Local authorities are required to have regard to the Prudential Code and statutory guidance when they borrow from the PWLB or from any other lender, these are published by The Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and form the Prudential Framework. The main objective of the Prudential Framework is to ensure that the capital investment plans of local authorities are affordable, prudent and sustainable.

Taxation: Tribunals

Peter Dowd: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what the total amount was that HMRC have paid out as a result of lost tribunal cases in each year since 2010.

Mel Stride: HMRC does not hold information on payments that is directly linked to the outcomes of tribunal cases. HMRC holds information on case outcomes and the tax under dispute but does not hold any information on the amount paid out following a case being lost. In many cases the amount paid out will be different from the tax under dispute.

Employment: Females

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what assessment he has made of the effect on the public purse of women leaving the labour force due to the minimum income requirement.

Elizabeth Truss: The Government has a very strong record on helping women to enter and progress in the labour market. Female employment is at a record high; the female unemployment rate is the lowest since comparable records began; and the female employment rate increased by more in the last parliament than in the previous three combined. The level of the minimum income requirement of £18,600, introduced in 2012, is designed to­ ensure that those bringing their family into the UK from non-EEA countries can properly support their partner and any dependants financially, and was set based on advice from the independent Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) in November 2011. The Treasury has not conducted an assessment of the fiscal impact of any potential change in female labour force participation as a result of the minimum income requirement.

Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport

Lotteries: Regulation

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, when he plans to respond to his Department's consultation on the regulation of society lotteries.

Mims Davies: The consultation on society lottery reform closed on 7 September 2018. There were over 1,600 responses. I am carefully considering the evidence and I hope to respond to the consultation in the first half of this year.

Alcoholic Drinks: Advertising

Carolyn Harris: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what plans his Department has to include tackling the advertising of alcohol to children in the upcoming alcohol strategy.

Margot James: The alcohol strategy is being coordinated by the Home Office and the Department of Health and Social Care. Advertising in the United Kingdom is regulated by the Advertising Standards Authority, the industry’s independent regulator, who enforce the Advertising Codes through a system of self-regulation and co-regulation with Ofcom. The Codes apply to all media, including broadcast and online, and set standards for accuracy and honesty to which advertisers must adhere, including specific conditions on advertising to children, causing offence and social responsibility. The Codes also currently state that alcohol advertising must not be targeted at people under 18. The Codes are regularly reviewed and updated to ensure they remain effective. The Portman Group also provides a Code to the alcohol industry on Naming and Packaging and Promotion of Alcoholic Drinks, which includes that drinks should not have a particular appeal to under-18s.

Sports and Exercise: Finance

Dr Rosena Allin-Khan: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, with reference to Sporting Future: A Strategy for an Active Nation, published in December 2015, what progress the Inter-Ministerial Group for Healthy Living has made on implementing a joined-up approach to delivery and funding for sport and physical activity.

Mims Davies: I meet regularly with my ministerial colleagues to discuss our joint working on sport and physical activity. Cross-government working continues to be a key priority, given the immense role sport and physical activity plays in a range of important agendas across government. For example, it can help improve learning and educational attainment, and contribute to reducing the burden on health and social care services.

BBC: Disability Aids

Tom Watson: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what discussions he has had with the BBC on improving their subtitling service.

Margot James: As the UK’s communications regulator, Ofcom is responsible for setting targets and holding broadcasters including the BBC to account for delivering subtitling services.

Television: Licensing

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate he has made of the number of people benefit from the free TV licence for over-75s in (a) North West Durham, (b) North East of England and (c) the UK.

Margot James: We do not hold this information. The BBC is responsible for the collection and enforcement of the licence fee.

Leader of the House

Leader of the House of Commons: Public Consultation

Peter Dowd: To ask the Leader of the House, how many consultations by her Department (a) are open, (b) are closed awaiting a Government response and (c) have been initiated since 2016.

Andrea Leadsom: There are no consultations open, closed awaiting a Government response or initiated by the Office of the Leader of the House of Commons since 2016. All public government consultations are uploaded onto GOV.UK. Consultations can be filtered by criteria, including department, official document status and date of publication.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 22 November 2018 to Question 194759 on Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit and the Answer of 19 November 2018 to Question 190945 on Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Brexit, for what reason his Department is unable to provide that information.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 03 December 2018






An error has been identified in the written answer given on 10 December 2018.The correct answer should have been:

The Department does not hold this information centrally, and providing this information would incur disproportionate cost. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3.5 working days in determining whether the Department holds the information, including locating, retrieving and extracting this. The Act provides that we are not obliged to comply with requests where the estimated cost of complying would exceed this limit.Due to the breadth and nature of your request, we estimate that meeting the request could not be done within the appropriate time limit set out by the Act.This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Richard Harrington: Holding answer received on 03 December 2018



The Department does not hold this information centrally, and providing this information would incur disproportionate cost. This represents the estimated cost of one person spending 3.5 working days in determining whether the Department holds the information, including locating, retrieving and extracting this. The Act provides that we are not obliged to comply with requests where the estimated cost of complying would exceed this limit.Due to the breadth and nature of your request, we estimate that meeting the request could not be done within the appropriate time limit set out by the Act.This information is not held centrally and can only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy: Staff

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether any civil servants of his Department have been redeployed from work on national minimum wage enforcement to work on preparations for the UK leaving the EU.

Rebecca Long Bailey: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many staff in his Department are working on minimum wage enforcement.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 04 March 2019



HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) are responsible for enforcing the National Minimum Wage Regulations on behalf of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). We have almost doubled the enforcement budget for the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage to a record high of £26.3 million for 2018/19, up from £13.2 million in 2015/16. There are over 420 HMRC staff involved in the enforcement of the National Minimum Wage Act 1998. BEIS has robust plans in place to manage delivery of EU exit. No BEIS officials have been redeployed from work on National Minimum Wage enforcement to work on preparations for the UK leaving the EU.

Scottish Limited Partnerships: Ownership

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Scottish limited partnerships have not registered a person of significant control.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 04 March 2019



Companies House considers around 17,500 of those Scottish Limited Partnerships on the register to be active. Of these, just under 1,800 have not filed any person of significant control information.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office: Parental Leave and Parental Pay

Alex Sobel: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, whether his Department has plans to extend (a) maternity and (b) paternity leave and pay for parents of (i) very sick and (ii) premature children.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 07 March 2019



Officials in the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy have now completed the preliminary work on the internal review of the provisions for parents of premature, sick and multiple babies. This work sought to obtain a high-level understanding of the barriers to participating in the labour market that these parents can face.The purpose of this preliminary work was to provide initial advice to Ministers, including identifying potential areas for further work.I will consider this advice and expect to be in a position to say more about next steps in due course.

International Labour Organisation

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the number of labour market inspectors in line with the International Labour Organisation benchmark of one for every 10,000 workers.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 07 March 2019



Government is exploring options for a single labour market enforcement body – we will publish proposals on this for consultation shortly. More recently we announced that this consultation will consider extending the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority’s licensing scheme to further sectors and that we will ensure trade unions and businesses are consulted on the strategic direction of labour market enforcement. As part of the forthcoming Spending Review we will consider what level of funding is appropriate to ensure that it is adequately resourced to deliver its strengthened remit. Government is committed to ensuring fair and effective enforcement. We have taken concrete measures to increase the number of labour market inspectors and extend their coverage. Government has increased funding for HMRC’s enforcement of the National Minimum and Living Wage (NMW) to a record high of £26.3 million for 2018/19. The NMW enforcement team went from 140 staff in 2015-16 to 424 in 2017/18 (measured on a full-time equivalent basis).Funding for the Gangmasters and Labour Abuse Authority (GLAA) has also risen in the last two years to reflect the expansion of its remit to tackle labour exploitation. The GLAA now receives over £7m per year in funding, up from £4.5m in 2016/17.The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate has seen its funding increase from £0.5m in 2016/17 to £0.725m in 2018/19. The Good Work Plan went further, setting out a number of measures to improve state enforcement of core employment rights. In addition to introducing state enforcement of holiday pay for vulnerable workers, we also committed to expand protection of agency workers to cover umbrella companies.

Minimum Wage: Non-payment

Stephen Kinnock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to increase prosecution and conviction rates for non-payment of the minimum wage.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 07 March 2019



The enforcement of the National Minimum Wage and National Living Wage (NMW) is a top priority for the Government; we have increased HMRC’s enforcement budget to a record high of £26.3 million for 2018-19. Last year, HMRC identified a record £15.6 million in arrears of wages for over 200,000 workers. In addition, HMRC issued £14.1 million in financial penalties to employers who breached NMW rules; the highest amount ever. In addition to civil penalties, since April 2016 Labour Market Enforcement Agencies have been making use of new powers to issue Labour Market Enforcement Undertakings and Orders. A two year custodial sentence and/or unlimited fine is available where a business breaches an LME order. Prosecution is reserved for the most egregious breaches of NMW law. In most cases it is not the best approach to help workers. Criminal sanctions against employers can mean that workers must wait considerably longer for their lost earnings to be paid back.

Energy: Public Consultation

Sir Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what estimate he has made of the cost to the consumer of Ofgem's creation of Customer Engagement Groups in each energy network; and if he will make a statement.

Claire Perry: Network regulation, including the creation of stakeholder groups as part of price control planning, is a matter for Ofgem as the independent regulator. By law, Government has no role in this process. As network charges make up approximately 25% of the average dual fuel bill (i.e. both gas and electricity) it is right that Ofgem, in line with its principal duty to protect consumers, increases efforts to engage consumers as it plans for the next energy network price control and Government is supportive of the work of the regulator in this area.

Business: Regulation

Sir Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what progress his Department has made on reducing regulation.

Kelly Tolhurst: Holding answer received on 07 March 2019



The Government published the 2017-18 Better Regulation Annual Report in July 2018, which gave an assessment of the total progress that the Government has made towards the Business Impact Target and individual departmental totals. The next annual report is due to be published in the Summer.

Natural Gas: Public Consultation

Sir Alan Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what reassurances he has received from Ofgem on the selection of members to the gas network (a) Customer Challenge and (b) Customer Engagement Groups to ensure that no single body carries disproportionate influence over the outcomes from those groups.

Claire Perry: Ofgem are the independent regulator for the energy sector, as such the Government has no role in the process for appointments to Ofgem stakeholder groups.

Medicine: Research

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what recent steps he has taken to ensure the transparency of all publicly funded medical research.

Chris Skidmore: The Department is committed to transparency in publicly funded research, including medical research. This is primarily delivered through UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), as a BEIS partner organisation.UKRI and its Councils have a long-term commitment to make the research process and findings as open, understandable and reproducible as possible, whilst respecting ethical considerations and necessary exceptions. All UKRI research awards are published on Gateway to Research, along with information on outputs and research papers, and papers relating to medical research are accessible to all via the open access repository EuropePMC. UKRI is also currently progressing the commitment to transparent research in all disciplines through the UKRI Open Access Review, which aims to increase access to publicly funded research.Within UKRI, the Medical Research Council (MRC) uses additional funding conditions for clinical trials and intervention studies which require the registration of all clinical trials and that all results (positive and negative) are publicly available in a timely way, usually within 12 months.Looking wider, UKRI is also working with Universities UK and other stakeholders to revise and strengthen the Concordat to Support Research Integrity, including attention to transparency and open communication of research methods, analysis, and the sharing of negative or null results.The transparency of research funded by other government departments, and their bodies, is not covered in this response.

Scottish Limited Partnerships: Ownership

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Scottish Limited Partnerships have not registered a Person of Significant Control.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scottish Limited Partnerships: Ownership

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what the value was of fines levied against Scottish Limited Partnerships for failing to register a Person of Significant Control in each of the last three years.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Scottish Limited Partnerships: Ownership

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Scottish Limited Partnerships are qualifying partnerships under the terms of the Scottish Partnerships (Register of People with Significant Control) Regulations 2017 and the Companies and Partnerships (Accounts and Audit) Regulations 2013.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Parental Leave: Childbirth

David Linden: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2019 to Question 225613, on Parental Leave: Childbirth, whether his Department plans to say more about next steps by 30 April 2019.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Post Offices: Closures

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many Post Office branches have closed in (a) North West Durham constituency, (b)the North East and (c) the UK since 2010.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Post Offices: Retail Trade

Laura Pidcock: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, how many post office branches have been relocated into retail premises in (a) North West Durham, (b) North East England and (c) the UK since 2010.

Kelly Tolhurst: Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government

Help to Buy Scheme

John Healey: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether he has made an estimate of the reduction in the level of revenue accruing to the public purse from an inability to recoup Help to Buy equity loans on leasehold houses due to those properties being (a) unsalable and (b) salelable only at a reduction on the initial purchase price; and if he will make a statement.

James Brokenshire: As the Help to Buy Equity Loan scheme is an equity share scheme, the level of revenue recouped to the Government is affected by changes to the housing market. We monitor this financial exposure carefully.The Government has committed to banning new leasehold houses and is clear that onerous lease terms have no place in a modern housing market. No funding from the new Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme from April 2021 will support the build and sale of leasehold houses.There has already been a sharp decrease in leasehold houses sold through the current scheme, which now represent just 4.4 per cent of houses built under the scheme for the third quarter of 2018.

Housing Infrastructure Fund: Hertfordshire

Bim Afolami: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much funding from the Housing Infrastructure Fund has been allocated to be spent in (a) St Albans and (b) North Hertfordshire district.

Kit Malthouse: Through the Housing Infrastructure Fund we are awarding £5.5 billion of grant funding for infrastructure that will unlock new homes in areas of the greatest housing need, such as Hertfordshire. We are supporting the County Council to develop their proposals and look forward to receiving the full business cases by 22 March 2019. Once assessed against the published criteria, I will be making funding decisions shortly thereafter.

Leasehold

Dr Matthew Offord: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant of the oral contribution of the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government of 28 January 2019, Official Report, column 465, on Leaseholders: Removal of Dangerous Materials, if he will publish the names of the 80 buildings where owners and developers have made a commitment to fund the cost of remediation, or have had a warrantee claim accepted.

Kit Malthouse: We are not publishing details which will identify buildings because of the risk to public safety. Details of every building identified as having unsafe Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) cladding systems are provided to the relevant local authority and fire and rescue service, and every building is visited by the local fire and rescue service to ensure appropriate safety measures are put in place. We continue to push hard to further accelerate remediation in all cases and, in the private sector, to ensure leaseholders are protected from bearing the costs.

Leasehold

Sir Mark Hendrick: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many leasehold properties were (a) built and (b) approved in (i) England and (ii) Lancashire in each of the last five years.

Kit Malthouse: (a) Leasehold properties built are included within the quarterly statistics on house building; new build dwelling completions that the Department collects from each building control inspector. However, figures for them are not separately identified.The Department’s statistics on the Help to Buy: Equity Loan scheme are published and available at the following link. This includes Tables 9, 9a and 9b with legal completions by property type and tenure (freehold and leasehold) on a cumulative, quarterly and local authority basis.https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/help-to-buy-equity-loan-scheme-statistics-april-2013-to-30-september-2018.In December 2017, the Government announced new measures to cut out unfair practices within the leasehold system, including a ban on leaseholds for almost all new build houses. We consulted on the technical detail of this in October 2018, and are currently analysing the almost 1,300 responses. We will publish our response in due course.The Government has also announced that no future Government funded schemes will support the build and sale of leasehold houses. This will apply to the new Help to Buy scheme from April 2021.(b) Planning approvals for leasehold properties are included within the quarterly statistics on planning decisions that the Department collects from each local planning authority. However, figures for them are not separately identified.

Housing: Construction

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what funding his Department allocates to organisation that provide advice to people that self-build on planning applications.

Kit Malthouse: The Department has allocated £32,205,600 of new burdens funding for the period 2016/17 - 2019/20 to 326 English local authorities, 9 National Park Authorities and the Broads Authority in discharge of their duties under the Self-build and Custom Housebuilding legislation.

Social Rented Housing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that social housing in equipped with adequate (a) heating and (b) insulation.

Kit Malthouse: In England, the Regulator of Social Housing requires registered providers to maintain their homes to the Decent Homes Standard, which says homes must have efficient heating and effective insulation. Homes are also required to be free of serious hazards, such as excess cold, identified using the Housing Health and Safety Rating System (HHSRS).In August 2018, the Government’s Social Housing Green Paper asked whether there are any changes to what constitutes a decent home that Government should consider. The consultation closed in November 2018 and we are currently analysing responses.In January 2019, Government also commissioned the first stage of a review to assess how well the HHSRS works in practice. We have also supported the Homes (Fitness for Human Habitation) Act which will allow social tenants to seek redress in the courts if their home contains a hazard.In addition, the Government sets minimum standards for energy efficiency and the safety of heating appliances through Building Regulations Part L (Conservation of fuel and power) and Part J (Combustion appliances and fuel storage systems) respectively. In the Government’s Clean Growth Strategy, we committed to reviewing the Part L standards including consulting on improving energy efficiency requirements in new and existing buildings where the evidence suggests there are cost effective, affordable and safe opportunities to do so. We plan to consult on these matters in 2019.

Help to Buy Scheme

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many Help to Buy equity loans were agreed in each of the last three years.

Kit Malthouse: The total number of Help to Buy equity loans given in each of the last three years is:2016 38,3832017 46,3002018 (to end September) 36,310 Data has only been published to end September 2018.Details of quarterly and annual totals are set out in Table 1 of the Help to Buy: Equity Loan quarterly statistical release to end September 2018, published on 26 February 2019:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/781164/HTB_Equity_Loan_statistical_release_Q3_2018.pdf.

Stronger Towns Fund

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Stronger Towns Fund will be administered as part of the forthcoming UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Jake Berry: The Stronger Towns Fund is a new package of support and is complementary to the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.

Stronger Towns Fund: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what proportion of funding from the Stronger Towns Fund will be allocated to Wales.

Jake Berry: The UK Government will work with the devolved administrations to ensure that towns in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also benefit from the Stronger Towns Fund. We will announce further details in due course.

Stronger Towns Fund: Wales

Jonathan Edwards: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the allocation of funding from the Stronger Towns Fund to towns in Wales will be administered by the Welsh Government.

Jake Berry: The UK Government will work with the devolved administrations to ensure that towns in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also benefit from the Stronger Towns Fund. We will announce further details in due course.

Planning

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the timetable is for the Government to publish a response to the consultation on Planning reform: supporting the high street and increasing the delivery of new homes, with particular respect to the sections relating to the expansion of permitted development rights.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when he plans to publish the Government response to the consultation entitled Planning reform: supporting the high street and increasing the delivery of new homes.

Kit Malthouse: Our recent consultation Planning Reform: Supporting the high street and increasing delivery of new homes set out a package of proposals to simplify and speed up the planning system, make effective use of land, help high streets to adapt and diversify and deliver more homes through new permitted development rights and changes to the Use Classes Order.We are currently considering the responses received to the consultation. Decisions will be taken shortly on the consultation proposals to be taken forward.

Change of Use

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the financial effect on local authorities of providing services to support new development taken forward under the office to residential permitted development rights process.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the effect on local authority finances of providing services to support residential development on commercial sites under permitted development.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of effect on local authority finances of conversion of office space to residential units under permitted development.

Kit Malthouse: The national permitted development rights for change of use are making a valuable contribution to housing delivery. In the three years to March 2018, 46,000 homes were delivered under the rights, including 42,000 from office to residential. The prior approval process provides a streamlined planning process, and this is reflected in the fee. To support local planning authorities planning fees were increased by 20 per cent in 2018. This increase was ring fenced to ensure the funding benefited planning services directly. We continue to keep resourcing under review.

Change of Use

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what recent estimate his Department has made of the number of former office blocks that have been converted to residential units under permitted development rights for use as temporary accommodation.

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment his Department has made of the potential cost to the public purse of housing homeless individuals and families in former office blocks converted to residential units through permitted development rights.

Kit Malthouse: The permitted development right for change of use from office to residential is making an important contribution to the delivery of new homes and has delivered over 42,000 homes to buy or rent in the three years to March 2018. We do not collect information on how many are sold or rented.We have taken important steps to prevent and reduce homelessness and rough sleeping. We have committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period, and have implemented the most ambitious legislative reform in this area in decades, the Homelessness Reduction Act, which will mean people will get the help they need sooner.

Housing: Construction

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the adequacy of current lending conditions to (a) large, (b) medium, (c) small and (d) micro house builders in England.

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what steps he has taken to stimulate increased lending from high street banks to small and medium-sized house builders in England.

Kevin Hollinrake: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government , what steps he will take to stimulate improved lending terms from high street banks to small and medium-sized house builders in England.

Kit Malthouse: The Government fully recognises the important role small and medium sized house builders (SME) play in delivering much needed housing in this country. We have already put in place a number of initiatives to help SME builders overcome barriers, specifically access to finance through the provision of the £4.5 billion Home Building Fund. £2.5 billion of which provides short term loans to SME housebuilders, custom builders and innovators. £110 million of that funding has been used to set up The Housing Growth Partnership.  Launched in 2015, this is a £220 million partnership between Lloyds Bank and Homes England and is supporting the growth of SME house builders and expansion in the UK housing stock. It will deliver 3,400 homes. In addition, the Home Building Fund has also provided £125 million for the the Housing Delivery Fund launched by Barclays Bank and Homes England, in September 2018. The £1 billion development finance Fund will help build thousands of new homes across England. Of the £1 billion fund, Barclays is providing £875 million.  A key priority of The Housing Delivery Fund is to support small and medium sized businesses to develop homes for rent or sale including social housing, retirement living and the private rented sector, whilst also supporting innovation in the model of delivery such as brownfield land and urban regeneration projects.The Chancellor announced at Budget 2018 that the British Business Bank will deliver a new scheme providing guarantees to support up to £1 billion of lending to SME house builders. My Department and Homes England are currently working with the British Business Bank to implement this scheme.

Coastal Communities Fund: Scotland

David Duguid: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what support from the Coastal Communities Fund is available for Scotland.

Jake Berry: Since 2012, the Coastal Communities Fund has awarded grants to 311 projects worth over £180 million to coastal areas in the UK to support economic growth and jobs. This funding is helping to create or safeguard over 18,000 UK jobs and attract over £316 million of public/ private sector co-finance.The administration of the Coastal Communities Fund in Scotland is a devolved matter. The Scottish Government is currently reviewing the Coastal Communities Fund. My Hon Friend should contact Scottish Ministers for further information.

Housing: Construction

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the effect of the criteria for the distribution of the (a) Housing Infrastructure Fund Forward Fund, (b) Estates Regeneration Fund, (c) Home Building Fund, (d) Small Sites Fund and (e) Land Assembly Fund on the number of houses built in different local authority areas.

Kit Malthouse: The criteria of these funds have been designed to ensure homes are built in the areas that need them most. It is absolutely right that government tackles the issue of affordability where it is most acute, and ensure value for money for the taxpayer.The effect of this funding will be to build more homes in areas where affordability pressures are most severe.These five funds will continue to deliver on the Government's ambitious housing targets including the aim to deliver 300,000 homes per annum by the mid 2020’s.

Housing: Construction

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how many dwellings built or created through Permitted Development Rights in England have been found to be in breach of Building Regulations since 2015.

Kit Malthouse: Dwellings built under Permitted Development Rights are published in Live Table 120 as part of the Net Additional Dwellings release https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/net-supply-of-housing#publications.These data were first collected in 2015-16.MHCLG does not collect centrally any data regarding whether these dwellings have been found to be in breach of Building Regulations.

Stronger Towns Fund

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the Barnett consequentials of the Stronger Towns Fund will be for (a) Scotland, (b) Wales and (c) Northern Ireland.

Jake Berry: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Stronger Towns Fund

Alison Thewliss: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when the Barnett consequentials of the Stronger Towns Fund will be made available to the Scottish Government, Welsh Government and to Northern Ireland.

Jake Berry: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Preet Kaur Gill: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 February 2019 to Question 221775 on UK Shared Prosperity Fund, when he plans to publish the outcomes of the consultation on the Shared Prosperity Fund.

Jake Berry: We will consult widely on the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will give all interested parties the chance to contribute their views to Government. Their responses will inform final decisions on the Fund, which are due to be taken during the spending review.

Stronger Towns Fund

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether Warrington Borough Council will be eligible to bid for funding from the Stronger Towns Fund.

Jake Berry: The Stronger Towns Fund prospectus will be published before Summer recess. This will outline the process for how towns can come forward, and will set out the process of the £600 million competitive component of the fund. It will also detail the role of local partners, relevant definitions and eligibility criteria.

Stronger Towns Fund: Cheshire

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, if he will make an estimate of the value of funding from the Stronger Towns Fund that will be allocated to Cheshire and Warrington.

Jake Berry: The competitive element of the Stronger Towns Fund will be open to all towns. The allocation component has been provisionally allocated through a needs-based formula. The North West region has been provisionally allocated £281 million of the £1 billion component of the Stronger Towns Fund.The Stronger Towns Fund prospectus will be published before Summer recess, which will detail the role of local partners, relevant definitions and eligibility criteria.

Regeneration: Wales

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Government plans to allocate to Wales money for community rejuvenation similar to other towns in England.

Jake Berry: The UK Government will work with the devolved administrations to ensure that towns in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also benefit from the Stronger Towns Fund. We will announce further details in due course.

Stronger Towns Fund: Wales

Anna McMorrin: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, whether the Stronger Towns Fund will be replicated in Wales.

Jake Berry: The UK Government will work with the devolved administrations to ensure that towns in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also benefit from the Stronger Towns Fund. We will announce further details in due course.

Stronger Towns Fund

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what the eligibility criteria for the Stronger Towns Fund will be; and whether local authorities can apply to that fund for (a) specific projects or (b) grants for general use.

Jake Berry: The Stronger Towns Fund prospectus will be published before Summer recess. This will outline the process for how towns can come forward and will set out the process of the £600 million competitive component of the fund. It will also detail the role of local partners, relevant definitions and eligibility criteria.

Stronger Towns Fund

Mr Roger Godsiff: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, which schemes or Departmental budgets will be affected by the reallocation of funds to the Stronger Towns Fund.

Jake Berry: The Stronger Towns Fund is a new package of support and is complementary to other departmental funding.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, for what reasons the public consultation on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has been delayed.

Jake Berry: The Government continues to agree the terms of our departure from the EU and continues to plan for all scenarios. It remains committed to consulting on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. This will give all interested parties the chance to inform final decisions on the Fund, which are due to be taken at the spending review.

Empty Property

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of empowering local authorities to penalise landlords of commercial properties that are left vacant for lengthy periods of time.

Jake Berry: Vacant properties are not in the interest of tenants, landlords or communities. That is why at Autumn Budget 2018, as part of Our Plan for the High Street, we committed to piloting a register of empty commercial properties and supporting communities to make use of empty properties as part of broad plans for the regeneration of our high streets and town centres. The Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s inquiry into High Streets and Town Centres in 2030, made a recommendation to review existing policy on vacant commercial properties. The Government is considering the recommendation and will publish our response to the Select Committee in due course.

Business Premises: Rents

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of Government intervention in the retail and hospitality sectors to minimise the number of businesses that pay above-market rents.

Jake Berry: The Government considers the rents paid by tenants of commercial property to be an individual commercial decision between the landlord and tenant. We do not currently have any plans to intervene in such decisions so as not to restrict growth, distort the market or cause other unintended impacts. The Housing, Communities and Local Government Select Committee’s inquiry into High Streets and Town Centres in 2030, made a recommendation to review upwards only rent reviews. The Government is considering this recommendation and will publish our response to the Select Committee in due course.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2019 to Question 227110 on Buildings: Insulation, when the BS 8414 test will take place; and whether combustible insulation behind that cladding will be tested.

Kit Malthouse: The date for the test will be dependent on the availability of test rigs. It is proposed that the test should be carried out with an HPL panel and stone wool insulation. The advice of the Department’s Independent Expert Advisory Panel, set out in a Departmental advice note to building owners issued in December 2017 and revised in December 2018, is clear that combustible insulation or cladding presents a risk of fire spread on existing high rise buildings unless installed as part of a system that has passed the BS 8414 test. Their advice to building owners is that unsafe materials should be replaced with materials that are non-combustible or of limited combustibility.

Social Services: Dementia

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what estimate his Department is using for projected rates of dementia in the technical review of local authorities’ needs and resources.

Rishi Sunak: The Government is undertaking a review of the relative needs and resources of local authorities in England, with a view to setting fresh baseline funding levels in 2020-21. We are working closely with local government representatives and others to consider the drivers of local authorities’ costs, the resources available locally to fund services, and how we should account for these in a way that draws a more transparent and understandable link between local circumstances and resource allocations.The Government recognises the importance of getting its approach to Adult Social Care funding right and has identified this as a service area which will require a specific funding formula. The Government believes that the best available option is to deploy the most up-to-date formula available, which offers appropriate levels of analytical robustness. Our leading option, as set out in our December 2018 consultation, is to base a formula on work commissioned by the Department of Health and Social Care and undertaken by LG Futures (a specialist consultancy firm), together with the Personal Social Services Research Unit at the University of Kent and the London School of Economics and Political Science. This formula uses population projections and provides a robust and contemporary measure of need for all Adult Social Care services across England, including care for those with dementia.Further information on this research can be found at:https://www.pssru.ac.uk/project-pages/adult-social-care-rnf-review/.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 11 February 2019 to Question 217589 on Buildings: Insulation, for what reasons his Department has decided to use a bespoke test methodology.

Kit Malthouse: The test is designed to investigate the behaviour in a fire of the cladding materials being tested in a way that identifies risks that might not be identified in a standardised classification test. The test methodology was developed in consultation with an expert steering group.

Buildings: Insulation

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 26 February 2019 to Question 227111 on Buildings: Insulation, when his Department plans to announce the results of the call for evidence to form the basis for a technical review of Approved Document B (Fire Safety).

Kit Malthouse: The Department is considering the responses to the call for evidence and will announce its conclusions as soon as possible.

UK Shared Prosperity Fund

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, pursuant to the Answer of 19 December 2018 to Question 202313 on the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, what the timetable is for the public consultation on the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund; and when he plans to publish that consultation document.

Jake Berry: We will consult widely on the design of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, which will give all interested parties the chance to contribute their views to Government. Their responses will inform final decisions on the Fund, which are due to be taken during the spending review.

Members: Correspondence

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, when his Department plans to respond to the letter of 5 February 2019 from the hon. Member for Croydon North on fire safety and cladding.

Kit Malthouse: I have replied to the Hon Member's letter.

Sleeping Rough

Neil Coyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how the £100 million investment in the Government's Rough Sleeping Strategy will be spent; over what timescale that money will be spend; and how much of that funding will be allocated to local authorities.

Mrs Heather Wheeler: The Government is committed to reducing homelessness and ending rough sleeping. No one should ever have to sleep rough. That is why we published the cross-government Rough Sleeping Strategy. This sets out an ambitious £100 million package to help people who sleep rough now, but also puts in place the structures that will end rough sleeping once and for all. The Government has now committed over £1.2 billion to tackle homelessness and rough sleeping over the spending review period. In its first year, the Rough Sleeping Initiative provided over 1,750 new bed spaces and 500 staff.As part of the Strategy, we recently announced:· funding for the 53 Early Adopter local authorities, including 11 Somewhere Safe to Stay hubs as part of our Rapid Rehousing Pathway that will spend around £16 million over 2018-19 and 2019-20;· the opening of the 2019/20 funding round for the Rapid Rehousing Pathway, worth up to £26 million;· just over £6 million, beginning in 2019-20, for piloting support and suitable accommodation tailored for those leaving prison;· provisional allocations for £34 million in funding for 2019-20 through the Rough Sleeping Initiative to help tackle rough sleeping; and· an £11 million fund in 2019-20 for local authorities areas outside the 83 local authorities we are already funding through the Rough Sleeping Initiative.The remaining funding will include £5 million to support non-UK nationals who are sleeping rough, and funding to deliver the remaining Rough Sleeping Strategy commitments, including training packages for frontline staff as well as improving data and accountability structures around homelessness and rough sleeping.We are committed to working with all local authorities as we move towards a country where no one should sleep rough and the majority of our programmes are delivered through local authorities and their partners.

Stronger Towns Fund: Plymouth

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, how much money Plymouth is planned to receive from the Stronger Towns Fund in each of the next four years.

Jake Berry: The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government has indicated that it will not be possible to answer this question within the usual time period. An answer is being prepared and will be provided as soon as it is available.

Stronger Towns Fund

Luke Pollard: To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what criteria was used to assess deprivation in communities as part of allocating funding via the Stronger Towns Fund.

Jake Berry: The formula for allocating the £1 billion of the Stronger Towns Fund assesses need according to metrics of: income, productivity, deprivation, skills, and the number of people living in towns. In this formula, deprivation is assessed based on the Index of Multiple Deprivation.

Ministry of Defence

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what steps his Department takes to ensure that all procurements satisfy qualifying criteria.

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what his Department's policy is on awarding contracts to contractors whose tender is more expensive than the lowest quote.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) assesses all tenders for a requirement against a range of relevant criteria to ensure that the Armed Forces get the best capability at the best value for money for the taxpayer.Contracts are only awarded following a detailed tender assessment process and, while criteria for each procurement will vary depending on the requirements, MOD commercial officers must be satisfied that these are met before a contract is awarded.All tender documentation will include information on how the tenders will be evaluated and scored and the evaluation criteria will vary according to the requirement. One evaluation method is the lowest price method where the lowest priced tender that is technically and commercially compliant is deemed the winner. This is typically used in simple, routine procurements. A second evaluation method is the most economically advantageous tender method. Price is just one element of the overall value for money assessment and there may be occasions where a contractor who has submitted a more expensive tender is awarded a contract, for example, where the company offers a more effective capability. This will be assessed in accordance with the evaluation criteria detailed within the tender documentation

Ministry of Defence: Procurement

Melanie Onn: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether his Department has ever awarded a contract to an insolvent company.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence assesses the legal and financial status of a company before a contract is awarded and monitors the financial health and performance of the company throughout the contract, taking action as appropriate.It would not be normal for a contract to be placed with an insolvent company. However, if there was an overriding need to purchase goods from an insolvent company (for example, it was vital to the operational capability of the armed forces) then a detailed process would be followed, involving legal and financial experts, to evaluate the benefits against the risks before deciding whether to place a contract.The number of contracts awarded to insolvent companies is not held centrally and this data can be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Metals: Falkland Islands

Vernon Coaker: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, for what reason HMRC is not enabling the removal by supply ship of scrap metal from Mare harbour in the Falkland Islands; and if he will make a statement.

Stuart Andrew: The Ministry of Defence (MOD) operates a strategic roll-on roll-off (RORO) freight service between the Falkland Islands and the UK, which includes the transport of scrap metal from Mare harbour three or four times a year. The RORO service is also used by the Falkland Islands Government, who have a separate commercial arrangement with the MOD's freight operator. There are currently no restrictions on this RORO transport. Since 2017 there have been 11 sailings containing scrap metal.All freight shipped from the Falkland Islands, including scrap metal, is imported observing legislated customs formalities. Duties are occasionally applied to the import of scrap metal, for example where the MOD has insufficient evidence to support duty relief for reimported goods. When this occurs, the MOD pays the relevant duties and taxes. Where the scrap metal is not imported by the MOD, the payment of any duties and taxes is the responsibility of the Falkland Islands Government or the consignor.

Army

Sir Jeffrey M. Donaldson: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what plans he has to change the military Brigade structure throughout the UK; and what effect changes to the military Brigade structure would have on the 38 (Irish) Brigade in Northern Ireland.

Mark Lancaster: The Army is in the process of refining its structures to optimise delivery of the outputs required by Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015, including the ability to deploy a modern, warfighting Division. This process is called Army 2020 Refine (A2020) and more detail was provided in the statement by the then Secretary of State for Defence on 15 December 2016 [HCWS367], and the answer I gave on 11 December 2017 to Question 117878.A2020(R) is also reviewing how the Army's light infantry units are structured within 1st (UK) Division to ensure they are optimised to deliver the outputs required. This could see a change in the current attribution of combat units to Brigades, including 38 (Irish) Brigade, but will have no impact on the Army's footprint in Northern Ireland. No decisions have been considered by Ministers at this point.



117878 - Strike Experimentation Group
(Word Document, 22.35 KB)




HCWS367 - SDSR - Army
(Word Document, 24.32 KB)

Saudi Arabia: Military Aid

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether any RAF personnel on secondment to BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia have (a) maintained Royal Saudi Air Force planes engaged in military operations in Yemen and (b) trained Royal Saudi Air Force personnel engaged in military operations in Yemen.

Mark Lancaster: RAF personnel on secondment to BAE Systems in Saudi Arabia have provided routine engineering support for UK-supplied aircraft operated by the Royal Saudi Air Force (RSAF), including aircraft engaged in military operations in Yemen. Seconded RAF personnel with BAE Systems have also provided generic training support to RSAF aircrew. The subsequent utilisation of trained RSAF aircrew is not monitored by or otherwise confirmed to the UK. The above support does not involve the loading of weapons for operational sorties, nor does it include any involvement in the planning of operational sorties.

Nimrod Aircraft: Operating Costs

Mr Virendra Sharma: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what estimate he has made of the operating cost per unit of Nimrod aircraft in each financial year until their withdrawal from service in 2011.

Stuart Andrew: This information could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Iraq: Detainees

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, with reference to the Intelligence and Security Committee’s report on Detainee Mistreatment and Rendition, published in June 2018, what role British personnel played in interrogations at Abu Ghraib while the prison was under the control of the United States Administration.

Mark Lancaster: Three members of the UK Armed Forces were deployed to Abu Ghraib during the period January - April 2004. During their time there, they interviewed a small number of prisoners. All activity conducted by UK personnel at Abu Ghraib was in accordance with domestic and international law and the Geneva Conventions.

Iraq: Detainees

Stewart Malcolm McDonald: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, whether British personnel stationed at Abu Ghraib (a) made an assessment of and (b) produced a report on the conditions in which prisoners at that facility (i) lived and (ii) were treated; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Lancaster: The UK personnel that deployed to Abu Ghraib had been briefed to report any concerns to the UK chain of command and keep records in accordance with UK policy. They did not report any allegations or incidents of abuse taking place during their deployment to Abu Ghraib.

Department for International Trade

Overseas Trade: Sports

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what assessment he has made of the ability of sporting events to underpin his work in furthering the UK’s trading relationships.

Graham Stuart: The Department for International Trade, alongside other Government Departments, works to take full advantage of world class sporting events hosted in the UK. DIT run inward missions to showcase UK expertise and promote trade to visiting delegations. DIT ran an International Observer Programme during the 2017 World Athletics Championships which included delegations from several countries. In 2015 DIT hosted a Japanese delegation during the Rugby World Cup. DIT continue to plan similar missions to run alongside future sporting events, such as the Cricket World Cup later this year. DIT recognises the value of sporting events hosted overseas to further the UK’s trading relationships and has delivered activities such as British Houses and business delegations at major sporting events for this purpose. DIT are looking forward to making the most of opportunities offered around Rugby World Cup 2019 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Trade Missions: Sports

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, whether he has taken steps to ensure that trade missions associate with and run alongside UK sporting events.

Graham Stuart: The Department for International Trade, alongside other Government Departments, works to take full advantage of world class sporting events hosted in the UK. DIT run inward missions to showcase UK expertise and promote trade to visiting delegations. DIT ran an International Observer Programme during the 2017 World Athletics Championships which included delegations from several countries. In 2015 DIT hosted a Japanese delegation during the Rugby World Cup. DIT continue to plan similar missions to run alongside future sporting events, such as the Cricket World Cup later this year. DIT recognises the value of sporting events hosted overseas to further the UK’s trading relationships and has delivered activities such as British Houses and business delegations at major sporting events for this purpose. DIT are looking forward to making the most of opportunities offered around Rugby World Cup 2019 and Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Arms Trade: Turkey

Chris Law: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what the value has been of UK arms export licences to Turkey issued in each of the last five calendar years.

Graham Stuart: All export licences are issued in strict accordance with the Consolidated EU and National Arms Export Licensing Criteria. The Government publishes Official Statistics (on a quarterly and annual basis) about export licences granted, refused and revoked on GOV.UK. These reports contain detailed information on export licences issued, refused or revoked, by destination, including the overall value, type (e.g. Military, Other) and a summary of the items covered by these licences. These can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/strategic-export-controls-licensing-data.The data currently provides details of licences up to 30 September 2018. Information about the period 1 October to 31 December 2018 will be published on 16 April 2019 and data covering the period 1 January 2019 to 31 March 2019 will be published in July 2019.

Exports: Saudi Arabia

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, how many applications for (a) Standard Individual Export Licences, (b) Open Individual Export Licences and (c) Open Individual Trade Control Export Licences for exports to Saudi Arabia were referred to Ministers by the Export Control Joint Unit and its predecessor the Export Control Organisation in each year since 2015.

Graham Stuart: The following are the number of applications to Saudi Arabia that have been referred to Ministers since 2015: 2015:a) 2 Standard Individual Export Licences;b) 0 Open Individual Export Licence;c) 0 Open Individual Trade Control Licences;2016:d) 2 Standard Individual Export Licences;e) 0 Open Individual Export Licence;f) 0 Open Individual Trade Control Licences;2017:g) 18 Standard Individual Export Licences;h) 1 Open Individual Export Licence;i) 0 Open Individual Trade Control Licences;2018:j) 13 Standard Individual Export Licences;k) 0 Open Individual Export Licence;l) 0 Open Individual Trade Control Licences;

Exports: Advertising

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2019 to Question 226741 on Exports: Advertising, how much of the £1.90 million spent on advertising on online digital formats was spent on (a) Twitter, (b) Facebook, (c) Instagram, (d) Google, (e) LinkedIn and (f) other sites.

George Hollingbery: From 1 February 2018 to 31 January 2019, the £1.90 million spent on digital advertising by the Exporting is GREAT campaign was broken down as below. A) Spending on Twitter was £0.B) Spending on Facebook was £233,000.C) Spending on Instagram was £47,000.D) Spending on Google was £89,000.E) Spending on LinkedIn was £69,000.F) The remaining costs of our advertising on digital formats and other sites was £1.46 million

Exports: Advertising

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, pursuant to the Answer of 6 March 2019 to Question 226741 on Exports: Advertising, how much of the £0.72 million spent on advertising in physical formats was spent on (a) billboards, (b) leaflets and (c) other forms of physical advertising.

Graham Stuart: From 1 February 2018 to 31 January 2019, the £0.72 million spent on physical advertising by the Exporting is GREAT campaign was broken down as below. A) Spending on billboards or digital screens was £722,000.B) Spending on leaflets was £0.C) Spending on other forms of physical advertising was £2,500.

Exports: Advertising

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for International Trade, what initiatives, in addition to the Local to Global podcast, his Department has introduced for the Exporting is Great campaign.

Graham Stuart: The Exporting is GREAT campaign, which launched in 2015, aims to spark a UK wide movement of companies selling their products and services overseas. It focuses on raising awareness of the benefits of exporting, communicating where to go for support, and inspiring more companies to start trading internationally. As an integrated marketing campaign, Exporting is GREAT runs several initiatives which together encourage and inform businesses to start exporting or export more. In addition to the Local to Global podcast, the campaign encourages and informs businesses through channels including regional PR, advertising and participation at major UK and regional events. Furthermore, the campaign works with private sector partners as well as a network of exporters to promote exporting. The campaign also funds the Music Exporting Growth Scheme and gathers insights into businesses' exporting behaviours, attitudes, intentions, barriers and support needs via the National Survey of Registered Businesses.

Department for Transport

Driving Tests

Grahame Morris: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many standards checks have been conducted for (a) Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency driving examiners and (b) Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency delegated examiners in the last financial year.

Jesse Norman: The Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency’s (DVSA) driving examiners undergo regular supervised tests to check the standard of their assessment. Senior examiners conducted (a) 12,815 supervised tests between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018 and (b) 357 supervised tests for delegated driving examiners between 1 April 2017 and 31 March 2018.

Heathrow Airport: Pollution

Mr Steve Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether his Department has undertaken an impact assessment on (a) noise pollution and (b) air pollution that would be caused by the changes to flight paths proposed under the Heathrow Airspace and Future Operations Consultation.

Jesse Norman: The Appraisal of Sustainability[1] that accompanies the Airports National Policy Statement provides a strategic level assessment of the potential noise and air pollution impacts, based on indicative flight paths. If expansion proceeds, the exact noise and pollution impacts will depend on the final flight path design which must be approved through the Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) Airspace Change Process. This regulatory process will provide further opportunities for stakeholders to be informed by, and comment on, more detailed flightpath proposals. The process also requires that the feedback received by the sponsor of the change is taken into consideration fully before the final proposal is submitted to the CAA for regulatory approval. [1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/appraisal-of-sustainability-for-the-proposed-airports-national-policy-statement

Motor Vehicles: Licensing

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he plans to take to amend the rules on vehicle licensing as a result of the judgment of the Court of Justice of the European Union in Fundo de Garantia Automovel v Juliana and another, Case C-80/17.

Jesse Norman: The Department does not intend to make any changes to vehicle licensing rules as a direct result of the Juliana judgment. In relation to this judgment, the Department conducted a review of the rules around the UK’s Statutory Off-Road Notification (SORN) regime. A SORN registration is an official step that withdraws a vehicle from being used for travel on roads and the Department’s position is that the exemption from the compulsory motor insurance requirement in these circumstances is compliant with the Juliana judgement. Consequently, the position of the Department is that no further steps are needed to satisfy the requirements of the Juliana judgment.

Channel Tunnel: Freight

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he has taken since 1 July 2016 to assess the effect of the UK’s departure from the EU on Eurotunnel’s handling of freight volumes from the continent.

Chris Grayling: A number of cross-Government working groups have been established to consider the impacts on imports into the UK after EU Exit, including steering groups with Eurotunnel. We have been in dialogue with Eurotunnel throughout our EU Exit planning, including in relation to handling of freight.

Eurotunnel

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what recent estimate he has made of the cost to the taxpayer of upgrading Eurotunnel’s terminals in the UK and France ahead of the UK’s departure from the EU.

Chris Grayling: Officials from DfT and across Government have worked closely with Eurotunnel and other industry stakeholders to help them develop planning assumptions and to understand the impact of EU Exit. Eurotunnel itself is responsible for the cost associated with any upgrades before EU Exit.

Channel Ferries: Freight

Karl Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what the total costs to date are from the procurement exercise for additional roll-on roll-off ferry freight capacity in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal.

Chris Grayling: I refer the hon. Member to the Answer given by my hon. Friend on 14 February to the hon. Member for Oxford West and Abingdon. [UIN 219568]

Motorways: Cameras

Dr David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how many active motorway speeding cameras are situated on the (a) M1, (b) M2, (c) M3, (d) M4, (e) M5 and (f) M6.

Jesse Norman: The aggregate number of active motorway speed cameras includes cameras that are fixed, mobile and temporary, such as those monitoring roadworks. For this reason, the number of active speed cameras invariably fluctuates.It would require disproportionate cost to ascertain the numbers on any given day, and in any case any numbers given might well not be representative of the entire motorway for a given period.

Fuels: Consumption

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department met representatives of the fossil fuel industry to discuss EcoDrive, a gadget to help preserve fuel usage.

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, whether (a) he, (b) Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department met representatives of the fossil fuel industry to discuss EcoDrive, a gadget to help preserve fuel usage.

Jesse Norman: Neither DfT ministers or officials have been approached by or met with representatives of the fossil fuel industry to discuss the EcoDrive gadget.

Taxis: Licensing

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to his Department's consultation entitled Taxi and private hire vehicle licensing: protecting users, published on 12 February 2019, whether he has plans for statutory guidance to prohibit vehicles from undertaking journeys which do not take place or end in the area which they are licensed.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The draft statutory guidance on taxi and private hire vehicle licensing which the Department is consulting on is made using powers in the Policing and Crime Act 2017. Section 177 of the Policing and Crime Act 2017 enables the Secretary of State to issue guidance to public authorities as to how their licensing functions under taxi and private hire vehicle legislation may be exercised so as to protect children, and vulnerable individuals who are 18 or over, from harm. The Department does not believe that prohibiting vehicles from undertaking journeys which do not take place or end in the area in which they are licensed falls within scope of the section 177 powers.In the response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing Government agreed with the principle that all taxi and private hire vehicle journeys should start and/or end within the area that issued the licences, and set out that further consideration will be given to how this might best work in practice, with a view to legislation.

Taxis: Licensing

Mr Clive Betts: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, with reference to the consultation on statutory guidance for the licensing of private hire vehicles, whether the Government will provide financial assistance to help vehicle owners make the changes necessary to meet the new regulations.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The draft statutory guidance proposes a number of measures for licensing authorities to consider when setting taxi and private hire vehicle policy and administration of the regime. Adoption of the recommendations made in the final statutory guidance and any assistance that might be needed for the trade in their area will be a matter for licensing authorities.

Taxis: Licensing

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking with local taxi licensing authorities to ensure that drivers continue to meet standards after the initial granting of their licence.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Licensing authorities have a duty to ensure that any person to whom they grant a taxi or private hire vehicle driver’s licence to is a fit and proper person to hold such a licence. Licensing authorities remain responsible for ensuring that the drivers they license remain fit and proper throughout the period of the licence.The draft statutory guidance to be issued to licensing authorities which Government is currently consulting on recommends measures to ensure authorities are aware of new information that may affect the suitability of individuals to hold a licence, such as clear complaint processes and biannual enhanced Disclosure and Barring Service checks including the barred lists.

Taxis: Licensing

Bridget Phillipson: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps he is taking to prevent taxi or private hire vehicle drivers from operating exclusively outside of the locality in which they are licensed.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: The Government’s response to the report by the Chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and Private Hire Vehicle Licensing agreed with the principle that all taxi and private hire vehicle journeys should start and/or end within the area that issued the licences, and set out that further consideration will be given to how this might best work in practice, with a view to legislation.

Driving: Autism

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how long the guidance that drivers with autism must notify the DVLA regardless of whether the condition affects their driving was on the DVLA website before it was amended; and how many drivers contacted the DVLA to inform them of their condition during that time period.

Jesse Norman: There was inconsistent advice on GOV.UK concerning the need for drivers with autism to notify the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) of their condition. Attempts to clarify the guidance on 15 February caused confusion and the website was amended on 4 March. The DVLA is currently assessing each case as some will have notified their condition because it affects their driving or they may have notified other medical conditions. The number of people who contacted the DVLA as a result of this issue is low. The DVLA will be writing to each of these drivers to confirm whether their condition affects their driving and only if it does will medical investigations be undertaken.

Taxis: Assistance Animals

Caroline Lucas: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what steps his Department has taken to address the issue of taxi drivers and local service owners denying access to guide and hearing dog owners; and whether his Department will bring forward legislative proposals to make disability equality training mandatory to ensure the Equality Act 2010 is followed by taxi drivers and local service owners.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: On the 12th February the Government responded to the report of the chair of the Task and Finish Group on Taxi and PHV licensing, confirming its support for mandating disability awareness training for taxi and PHV drivers as part of National Minimum Standards, and committing to bringing forward legislation when Parliamentary time allows. For the majority of the protections provided by the Equality Act 2010 it is for the individual who believes they have been discriminated against to personally seek advice or redress by bringing the case to court. Individuals may wish to begin this process by contacting the Equality Advisory and Support Service (EASS) which provides free bespoke advice and in-depth support to individuals with discrimination concerns.

High Speed Two: Public Appointments

Lilian Greenwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, when he expects to appoint two new non-executive members to the board of HS2 Ltd; what steps he has taken to improve gender balance on that board; and if he will make a statement.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: Under the chairmanship of Allan Cook we are refreshing the membership of the Board of HS2 Limited. We are close to concluding the first stage of this process and expect to be able to make an announcement on the appointment of new non-executives in the coming weeks.

Driving: Licensing

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, what discussion he has had with (a) Cabinet colleagues and (b) his Irish counterpart on establishing a bi-lateral arrangement on the recognition of driving licences between the to countries in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

Chris Grayling: Like the UK, Ireland does not require visitors to hold an International Driving Permit (IDP) to drive in Ireland, as long as they have their domestic driving licence. This continued recognition for visitors means that UK motorists visiting Ireland after exit day, including those crossing the border for work, will not have to purchase an IDP, irrespective of whether the UK leaves the EU with or without a deal.

Roads: Safety

Matt Western: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport, how much money his Department has spent on road safety each year since 2009.

Jesse Norman: A comprehensive reply could only be provided at disproportionate cost and may not identify all monies spent on road safety as some funding is not ring fenced. However, the Department has spent an estimated £13,365,958,546 on improving and keeping UK roads safe since 2009.

Foreign and Commonwealth Office

Sports

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what assessment he has made of the comparative value of sport to British soft power and international influence compared to other soft power assets.

Mark Field: ​While it can be difficult to compare the soft power generated by UK sport to other levers of soft power, from the UK's university sector to our democratic values, evidence from international polling consistently shows that sport is a significant soft power asset. For example, the 2017/18 Populus British Icon Index survey identified the Premier League as the single most effective UK brand.

Sports

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what information his Department holds on (a) sports organisations' and (b) National Governing Bodies’ international work and events in the next year.

Mark Field: ​International sporting events are welcome soft power opportunities for the UK, and the FCO works closely with DCMS, DIT and other government departments, as well as with sporting bodies direct, to ensure that the benefits of these are reaped.For example, in the UK we will seek to maximise the value of the Cricket World Cup, Wimbledon and the Netball World Cup in the months ahead. Around the world we shall focus on the Rugby Union World Cup in Japan and the Formula 1 season, amongst others.

Foreign Relations

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what studies his Department has commissioned or conducted on the worldwide reach of British soft power assets.

Mark Field: ​The FCO draws on a wealth of independent, external studies which assess soft power. These include the Portland Soft Power 30, Elcano Global Presence Index, Global Power City Index, the Anholt GfK Nations Brand and the IFG-Monocle Survey. The British Council has produced several studies looking at UK soft power, such as the 2018 Value of Trust report, which surveyed young people in G20 countries, and the 2017 report Soft Power Today, which examined the impact of investment in soft power.In addition, the Government conducts a global poll of perceptions of UK as part of the 'GREAT' campaign, alongside its 'return on influence' measurement framework.It is clear that the reach of British soft power assets is significant: the British Council alone worked directly with 75 million people in 2017-18. The BBC is the world's largest international broadcaster, reaching 347 million people worldwide in over 40 languages.

Foreign Relations

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what statistics his Department uses to measure the value of British soft power assets.

Mark Field: ​The FCO draws on a wealth of independent, external studies which assess soft power. These include the Portland Soft Power 30, Elcano Global Presence Index, Global Power City Index, the Anholt GfK Nations Brand and the IFG-Monocle Survey. The British Council has produced several studies looking at UK soft power, such as the 2018 Value of Trust report, which surveyed young people in G20 countries, and the 2017 report Soft Power Today, which examined the impact of investment in soft power.In addition, the Government conducts a global poll of perceptions of UK as part of the 'GREAT' campaign, alongside its 'return on influence' measurement framework.It is clear that the reach of British soft power assets is significant: the British Council alone worked directly with 75 million people in 2017-18. The BBC is the world's largest international broadcaster, reaching 347 million people worldwide in over 40 languages.

Korea: Nuclear Weapons

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what diplomatic steps he plans to take to support the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula after the recent US-North Korean talks in Hanoi.

Mark Field: The Foreign Secretary has regular discussions with Secretary of State Pompeo on how to resolve the threat posed by North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, most recently on 5 March. We welcome the US commitment to continue talks following the recent summit in Hanoi. We will continue to work closely with the US and our other international partners and use a wide range of diplomatic tools, including through our Embassy in Pyongyang, in an effort to achieve North Korea's denuclearisation.

Jiang Rong and Wang Li

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the arrest of Pastor Wang Yi and his wife Jiang Rong of the Early Rain Covenant Church in Chingdu province in December 2018 on charges of incitement to subvert state power.

Mark Field: We are concerned by the arrest and detention of Pastor Wang Yi and his wife Jiang Rong. We have raised our concerns about the closure of some churches, including the Early Rain Covenant Church, under China’s recently updated regulations on religious affairs. We remain concerned by the restrictions placed on Christianity and other religions in China, which include individuals being harassed or detained for their beliefs. The freedom to practise, change or share one's faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. We believe that societies which aim to guarantee freedom of religion or belief are more stable, prosperous and resilient against violent extremism. We are robust in raising the full range of our human rights concerns with the Chinese authorities. We raised our concerns over restriction of freedom of religion or belief as part of China’s Universal Periodic Review in November 2018, and in our 27 June 2018 statement at the UN Human Rights Council.​

China: Christianity

Emily Thornberry: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Chinese counterpart on the (a) persecution of Christians, (b) suppression of the Christian faith in that country and (c)that country's  plans to issue a new, state-approved translation of the Bible.

Mark Field: We remain concerned about the persecution of Christians, Muslims, Buddhists, Falun Gong practitioners and others on the grounds of their religion or belief in China. The freedom to practise, change or share one's faith or belief without discrimination or violent opposition is a human right that all people should enjoy. We believe that societies which aim to guarantee freedom of religion or belief are more stable, prosperous and more resilient against violent extremism. We regularly raise the full range of our human rights concerns with the Chinese authorities. We recently raised our concerns over restriction of freedom of religion or belief with the Chinese Government in our 27 June 2018 statement at the UN Human Rights Council and during China’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) in November 2018. We also highlighted our concerns in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office’s Annual Report on Human Rights and Democracy. The report contains details of work the FCO has carried out during the past year to promote human rights, including freedom of religion or belief in China and globally.​

Russia: Human Rights and Journalism

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will make representations to the Russian government to end impunity and conduct prompt and effective investigations into all threats and incidents of violence against human rights defenders and journalists.

Sir Alan Duncan: We continue to call on Russia to respect freedom of speech and expression, which are enshrined in the Russian constitution. This includes releasing those who are imprisoned for their journalism. We remain deeply concerned by the state of impunity for perpetrators of attacks on journalists in Russia.​

Russia: Press Freedom

Fiona Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will raise press freedom in all bilateral discussions with Russia and call for the (a) immediate and unconditional release of all journalists and bloggers jailed and (b) an end to violence against journalists in Russia.

Sir Alan Duncan: Impunity for attacks on journalists and human rights defenders in Russia remains deeply concerning. We continue to urge the Russian authorities to fully investigate these cases, and ensure the safety of all human rights activists and journalists.

North Korea: Sanctions

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, if he will hold discussions with his US counterpart on future sanctions on North Korea following the recent discussions between the US and North Korea.

Mark Field: The Foreign Secretary regularly speaks to his counterparts in the United States about how to secure a diplomatic solution to the threat posed by North Korea’s illegal nuclear and ballistic missile programmes, most recently to Secretary of State Pompeo on 5 March. We had hoped the talks between President Trump and Kim Jong-Un in Hanoi, Vietnam, 27-28 February, would prove a basis for progress. However, it was clear that there is more work to do espeically on the issue of denuclearisation. We welcome the US commitment to continue negotiations and continue to urge North Korea to engage in this process. We shall maintain the strict enforcement of all sanctions until North Korea takes concrete steps towards its complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation.

Abdullah Öcalan

Kevin Brennan: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent representations he has made to his Turkish counterpart on the detention of Abdullah Ocalan.

Sir Alan Duncan: British Embassy officials discussed the imprisonment of the PKK leader Abdullah Öcalan with Turkish officials in mid-January. They also covered the hunger strikes in support of Abdullah Öcalan by Kurdish prisoners, including Leyla Guven MP. We are pleased to note that she was recently released from prison. We expect the Turkish authorities to ensure that prisoners' human rights are observed, including access to medical treatment.

Kashmir: Armed Conflict

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps the Government is taking to help resolve tensions in Kashmir; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: ​As I explained in a Statement to the House on 7 March, the British Government is in regular contact with both countries, urging dialogue and diplomatic solutions to ensure regional stability. We are working closely with international partners to de-escalate tensions.

Kashmir: Armed Conflict

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what recent discussions he has had with his counterpart in (a) India and (b) Pakistan on the situation in Kashmir; and if he will make a statement.

Mark Field: ​The British Government is in regular contact with both countries, urging dialogue and diplomatic solutions to ensure regional stability. I welcome both countries publicly stating they do not want to escalate tensions further and their willingness to work with, and through, the international community. On Wednesday 27 February, I spoke to the Indian and Pakistan High Commissioners and pressed the importance of de-escalation. During a pre-arranged visit to India on 1-3 March, I discussed with Foreign Secretary Gokhale steps to decrease tension and improve regional stability, including vital efforts to tackle terrorism. I made a Statement to the House on this subject on 7 March.

Kashmir: Human Rights

Judith Cummins: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps he is taking to support the maintenance of the human rights of people in Kashmir.

Mark Field: ​I recognise that there are deeply held human rights concerns in India-administered and in Pakistan-administered Kashmir. We encourage both India and Pakistan to uphold their international human rights obligations. Any allegations of human rights violations or abuses is concerning and must be investigated thoroughly, promptly and transparently. The UK regularly raises human rights concerns with counterparts in India and Pakistan.

Solomon Islands: Oil

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, what steps his Department is taking to assist the Government of the Solomon Islands in their response to the recent oil spill near Rennell Island.

Mark Field: ​We are monitoring closely the oil spill from the MV Solomon Trader in the Solomon Islands. It is particularly concerning because of its proximity to a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The UK High Commissioner to Honiara visited the site on 8 March, soon after the weather conditions allowed access, and discussed the situation with officials from the Solomon Islands' National Disaster Management Office. Since then, the spill has almost completely stopped and but there remains a need for further clean-up of the bay. We have not received any request for assistance from the Solomon Islands, but fully support the joint efforts by the governments of the Solomon Islands, Australia and New Zealand to end the leakage of oil and repair all damage.

Africa: Undocumented Migrants

Lloyd Russell-Moyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2019 to Question 227143 on Africa: EU aid and with reference to a Channel 4 news report on migrant deaths of 25 February 2019, what information her Department holds on the number of migrant deaths in facilities run by (a) the Directorate for Combating Illegal Migration and (b) other facilities funded by the EU Emergency Trust Fund for Africa.

Alistair Burt: The British Government does not hold information on the number of migrant deaths in detention centres in Libya. The centres are the responsibility of the Libyan authorities. No UK funding or European Union Emergency Trust Fund (EUTF) funding is allocated to the Libyan Department for Combatting Illegal Migration (DCIM), nor detention centres in Libya. The EUTF is working to improve conditions for migrants in DCIM-run centres on a humanitarian basis. Initiatives include providing safe spaces for the most vulnerable, installing air ventilation, water, sanitation and hygiene items, toilet facilities, and providing mobile medical assistance. In parallel, the EU is seeking sustainable and humane alternatives for those in these centres, including by supporting voluntary returns or resettlement in safe third countries.

Department for International Development

Overseas Aid: Sports

Tracey Crouch: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether her Department has made an assessment of the effect of sporting charities and development work on the UK's international reputation.

Harriett Baldwin: DFID has not made an overall assessment of the effect of supporting sporting charities on the UK’s reputation. We recognise the role sport can play in development, including social integration and inclusion, health and well-being and improving learning outcomes. As part of DFID’s due diligence process we assess all risks including reputational risk before funding a charity. Last year we matched all donations to Soccer Aid pound-for-pound, up to the value of £5 million. The money raised was spent on UNICEF’s work to help vulnerable children in Swaziland and Lesotho. We will continue to support Soccer Aid with a new appeal in 2019.

UNRWA

Marsha De Cordova: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what the long-term strategy of the Government is with respect to sustainable support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East.

Alistair Burt: The UK has a multi-year commitment to support United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) and we plan to continue to fund the Agency in line with that agreement. This will provide basic services such as health and education to Palestinian refugees in Gaza, the West Bank and the region. Last year the UK led international efforts to help ensure UNRWA’s essential services were maintained, by almost doubling our original core support of £33.5 million to £65.5 million in total, and lobbying other donors to step up, to ensure the funding burden is shared more evenly across the international community. Both the UK and UNRWA recognise the need for UNRWA to reform to ensure its sustainability, and UNRWA has undertaken significant cost-cutting measures to respond to budget cuts and growing needs. We welcome UNRWA’s efforts to broaden its donor base and are encouraging partners to provide more funding and more predictable disbursements. A long-term solution requires a just, fair, agreed and realistic settlement for Palestinian refugees. Until that happens the UK remains firmly committed to supporting UNRWA and Palestinian refugees.

Overseas Aid

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps she is taking to ensure that aid spending supports the UK's political, commercial and diplomatic priorities.

Harriett Baldwin: As set out in the 2015 Aid Strategy, spending 0.7 on aid each year to strengthen global peace, strengthen resilience and respond to crises, promote global prosperity and tackle extreme poverty are all Government priorities and serve in our national interest. This spending is key to the Government’s Global Britain vision and makes a strong contribution to the UK’s soft power and our ability to influence across the globe.

Palestinians: Schools

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, pursuant to the Answer of 21 January 2019 to Question 209284 on Palestinians: Schools, whether her Department has commissioned the study into the new Palestinian textbooks.

Alistair Burt: The UK government is deeply concerned about the findings of the IMPACT-se report into the Palestinian Authority’s (PA) new curriculum and it remains a priority for the Department for International Development (DFID) to commission an independent review of the PA’s textbooks. Our timeline for the textbook review remains unchanged. We expect to be able to announce our partners in the review and the start of work on this project shortly. We cannot yet provide further information owing to ongoing commercial discussions, but we will inform interested parliamentarians as soon as possible. In the interim, we are continuing to raise our concerns about incitement in education, which I did personally at a meeting with the Palestinian Education Minister in January 2019.

Palestinians: Overseas Aid

Joan Ryan: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, whether the salaries of Palestinian Authority (PA) employees paid by her Department will be reduced as a result of the the announcement by the PA Minister of Finance that the salaries of public employees will be partial following the ending of US support to the PA.

Alistair Burt: The UK is concerned about the effects of US and Israeli cuts to the PA’s budget on both the PA’s ability to deliver essential services to Palestinians and on the prospects for peace and stability in the region. The Palestinian Ministry of Finance and Planning has not published details of the planned reductions in wages announced last month. DFID officials will engage with the PA to assess the implications for PEGASE beneficiaries. The UK continues to support a stable PA which can act as an effective partner for peace with Israel through financial assistance to the health and education sectors to exclusively support the salaries of vetted public servants in the West Bank.

Afghanistan: Floods

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development, what steps her Department is taking to support humanitarian relief in Afghanistan in response to the recent floods.

Alistair Burt: The floods have had a devastating impact on already vulnerable Afghan communities. The worst affected provinces are Kandahar, Helmand, Herat and Farah. More than 40 people are known to have died, and hundreds of others have been injured or are missing. According to the Government, more than 7,100 houses have been damaged and over 5,600 destroyed across Afghanistan. More than 50,000 people require humanitarian assistance. At present, the Afghan Government are leading efforts to respond. International organisations are helping them to assess the situation on the ground and respond directly with food, non-food items, hygiene kits, winter clothes and emergency shelter (tents). DFID is closely monitoring what is happening and we stand ready to assist as and when our support is requested or required. The UK is at the forefront of the international humanitarian response in Afghanistan. As a result of UK funding, up to two million Afghans received lifesaving assistance in 2018, including hundreds of thousands of Afghans affected by one of the worst droughts the country has ever faced. Our assistance includes shelter and heating support to help displaced people face the winter, as well as food assistance, lifesaving health & nutrition services, clean water, and demining activities.

Department for Education

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Sir Peter Bottomley: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if he will make it his policy to calculate and update each year the amount of high needs funding to be allocated on the number of children being diagnosed with special needs; and what his policy is on directly correlating funding with need.

Nadhim Zahawi: The high needs national funding formula allocates funding to local authorities through a range of proxy factors, including socio-economic deprivation, low attainment and disability. This is to avoid the perverse incentive to label children as having special educational needs (SEN) or a disability to secure additional funding, which would arise if the number of education, health and care plans determined the amount of funding allocated. As identified in ‘research on funding for young people with special educational needs’, a report by ISOS Partnership in 2015, there is a significant correlation between these proxy indicators and SEN. The use of these proxy indicators means that local authorities with higher proportions of SEN children typically attract additional funding.The research report can be found at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/445519/DFE-RR470_-_Funding_for_young_people_with_special_educational_needs.pdf.

Free School Meals: Huddersfield

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what proportion of (a) children and (b) children eligible for free school meals reached a Good Level of Development at age five in Huddersfield in each of the last three years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The requested data is shown in the attached table.



227376_Early_years_foundation_stage_profile
(PDF Document, 24.28 KB)

Universal Credit

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what analysis his Department has conducted on the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on procedural changes in flagging eligibility for the pupil premium.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what analysis his Department has conducted with the Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on procedural changes in flagging eligibility for pupil premium by local authority area.

Anneliese Dodds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of the roll-out of universal credit on the number of pupils eligible for the pupil premium; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: Eligibility for the pupil premium is based on pupils recorded in the January census who are known to have been eligible for free school meals (FSM) now or at any point in the last 6 years (known as FSM EVER6).Following the change to FSM eligibility criteria under Universal Credit, which came into effect in April 2018, we estimate that by 2022, more children will benefit from an FSM and therefore pupil premium compared to the previous benefits system.As Universal Credit continues to roll out, we will keep the delivery of the pupil premium policy under review, working closely with other government departments.

European University Institute

Stephen Gethins: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the evidential basis is for the Government's conclusion that the UK will automatically fall out of the European Universities Institute Convention upon the UK’s exit from the EU.

Chris Skidmore: The UK’s EU membership is inextricably linked to its current membership of the European University Institute Convention (EUIC). As a result of EU Exit, the UK will no longer be an EU member state and so the UK’s membership of the EUIC will automatically cease on exit day. However, the UK will continue to apply the terms of the EUIC for the duration of the Implementation Period in a ‘deal’ scenario.

Special Educational Needs

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the average cost to schools of a pupil on an Education, Health and Care Plan .

Nadhim Zahawi: Local authorities are required to provide schools with sufficient funds to enable schools to meet the additional cost of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities up to £6,000. When the costs of additional support required for a pupil with SEN exceed £6,000, the authority should also allocate additional top-up funding to cover the excess costs. This funding comes from the authority’s high needs budget. Nationally, high needs funding has risen from a total of £5 billion in 2013 to over £6 billion in 2018-19.Local authorities recorded in their section 251 reports for 2017-18 that there was a combined spend of £2.3 billion on top-up funding in maintained schools and academies, and £1 billion in non-maintained and independent providers. This information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/section-251-2017-to-2018#section-251-budget-data.The great majority of pupils attracting top-up funding have an education, health and care (EHC) plan. In the calendar year 2017, there were 319,819 children and young people with active EHC plans.

Special Educational Needs: Finance

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure the adequacy of high needs funding for schools; and if he will make a statement.

Nadhim Zahawi: Authorities are required to provide schools with sufficient funds to enable schools to meet the additional cost of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) and disabilities, up to £6,000. Top-up funding is then provided from local authorities high needs budgets. Nationally, high needs funding is £6 billion this year, and will total £6.3 billion in 2019-20. We recognise that local authorities are facing cost pressures, which is why we have allocated an additional £250 million across all local authorities, over this year and next year. This funding will help local authorities to manage their cost pressures. Funding for 2020-21 and beyond will be determined in the Spending Review.

Education: North West

Helen Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how much has been spent by each local authority in the North West on education appeals tribunals; and what the value was of costs awarded to applicants in each of the last five years.

Nadhim Zahawi: Information on local authorities’ expenditure on the special educational needs and disability (SEND) tribunals or the costs awarded to applicants to the tribunal is not held centrally. The costs of SEND tribunals will vary depending on the type of the case being heard.There is a route for parents to submit a request for a reimbursement of costs, but these costs would only be awarded where there is clear evidence of negligence on the part of the local authority.

Sanitary Protection: Educational Institutions

Layla Moran: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to provide free sanitary products to (a) girls and(b) women in (i) secondary schools, (ii) colleges and (iii) universities.

Nadhim Zahawi: No one should be held back from reaching their potential because of their gender or background. My right hon. Friend, the Minister for Women and Equalities announced a new expert joint taskforce of government, business and the third sector on 4 March 2019, and we will work with this taskforce to develop a sustainable solution to period poverty in the UK.Our statutory guidance on ‘Sex and relationship education’ (2000) encourages schools to make sensitive arrangements to help girls cope with menstruation, and we have incorporated this advice into our draft Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education and Health Education guidance. Schools will be required to teach these new subjects from September 2020.Schools and colleges are best placed to identify and address the needs of their pupils; have discretion over how they use their funding; and can make sanitary products available to disadvantaged pupils if they identify this as a barrier to attainment or attendance. We support schools in addressing the needs of disadvantaged pupils through the provision of the pupil premium, equivalent to more than £2.4 billion of additional funding this year alone. We provide post-16 education and training providers with a 16-19 discretionary bursary allocation, which they can use to support young people aged between 16 and 19 who need support with costs to stay in further education.Higher education providers are autonomous bodies and it is up to them how they meet their students’ needs. This can include providing discretionary financial support where required. Lastly, as a government, through the tampon tax fund we provided £1.68 million for the ‘Let’s Talk. Period’ project, which is distributing sanitary products to young women and girls in need across England.

Social Services: Children

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what provisions are in place to ensure a sustainable future for children’s services in West Lancashire.

Nadhim Zahawi: ​Funding for children’s services is made available through the Local Government Finance Settlement. We are in the final year of a multi-year settlement deal – worth over £200 billion in the 5 years to 2020.At the Autumn Budget 2018, the government made £410 million available to local authorities, in 2019/20, for adult and children social care. The government also announced £84 million in targeted, evidence-based interventions which will transform services to reduce demand, saving money for local authorities but most importantly, improving the quality of services for our most vulnerable children.The Department for Education is working closely with Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government on the review of relative needs and resources to develop a robust, up-to-date approach to funding distribution for children's services at local government finance settlements.The government will continue to work closely with the sector to consider long-term children’s services funding as part of the upcoming Spending Review.

Specialist Schools: Complaints

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 28 February 2019 to Question 225521 on Specialist Schools: Complaints, how many complaints he has received from parents in each of the last five years.

Nadhim Zahawi: The information requested is not held centrally because our system for recording correspondence to my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State logs cases by number and name and does not fully capture the category of complainant.

Pupils: Essex

Alex Burghart: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate he has made of the funding per pupil at (a) primary and (b) secondary schools in (i) Brentwood and Ongar constituency and (ii) Essex in (A) 2016-17, (B) 2017-18, (C) 2018-19, (D) 2019-20 and (E) 2020-21.

Nick Gibb: The table below shows the per pupil funding allocated to Essex through the schools block of the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) for 2018/19 to 2019/20: Primary Secondary Total schools block allocation2018/19£3,777£4,976£837.9 million2019/20£3,843£5,018£855.8 million Prior to 2018/19 schools block allocations were not calculated at phase level. The table below shows the total and per pupil schools block funding that Essex received in 2016/17 and 2017/18. Per pupilTotal schools block allocation2016/17£4,392£814.7 million2017/18£4,347£819.5 million Since 2018/19, schools block allocations have been calculated through the national funding formula (NFF), based on individual schools’ characteristics. The following table outlines notional NFF allocations per pupil for Brentwood and Ongar schools in 2018/19 and 2019/20. These figures include the premises and mobility factors so are not directly comparable to the local authority figures provided above. Constituency level per pupil funding data prior to this is not held centrally. Primary per pupilSecondary per pupil2018/19£3,821£4,8712019/20£3,892£4,886 The Department is unable to provide figures for 2020/21 as spending plans beyond 2019/20 will be set at the next Spending Review and these decisions cannot be pre-empted.In addition to funding through the schools block of the DSG, schools also receive funding from separate funding streams and additional grants, such as the high needs blocks of the DSG and the Pupil Premium.To provide stability for schools, local authorities will continue to be responsible for designing the distribution of funding in their areas in 2018/19 through to 2020/21. Because of this, the actual amount that schools receive may be different to the amount they are attracting through the national funding formula. Local authorities set their local formula in consultation with schools.

Free Schools

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to announce the successful applicants for Wave 13 of the Free School programme.

Nadhim Zahawi: Successful applications for wave 13 of the free schools programme will be announced in spring 2019.

High Speed 2 Railway Line

Dame Cheryl Gillan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether all graduates of the National College for High Speed Rail will be required to work on the High Speed 2 project for a length of time after they graduate.

Anne Milton: The National College for High Speed Rail has been established to help provide the skills and qualifications required by High Speed 2 (HS2) and the modern rail industry as a whole. The college offers a range of qualifications, particularly at Level 4 and above, such as apprenticeships, certificates in higher education and foundation degrees via full time and part time delivery. There is no mandatory requirement for any student to be employed by HS2 once they have obtained their qualification. Qualifications and skills gained by students allow them to work for a wide range of organisations in the rail sector.

Children's Centres: Standards

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when a review of the operation of section 5C (Children's centres: advisory boards) Childcare Act 2006 was last undertaken; and if he will publish good practice on the operation of Advisory Boards.

Lucy Powell: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans he has to ensure that children in their first 1001 days have access to Sure Start services.

Nadhim Zahawi: The department published statutory guidance in April 2013 that sets out clearly what local authorities must do to meet the legal requirements in section 5 of the Childcare Act (2006), which is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/sure-start-childrens-centres. This includes guidance on advisory boards and facilitating access to services for young children and their families. It is up to local authorities to decide exactly how to meet these legal requirements depending on local circumstances.The department is engaging with the sector to find out ‘what works’ and to support local areas to make the right decisions for their communities. We are investing £8.5 million in a local government programme to spread good practice, grow the evidence base and help councils looking to improve outcomes for disadvantaged children and their peers. Good practice from this programme will include, but not be limited to, how children’s centres are being used to deliver effective integrated early childhood services.We will be spending around £6 billion a year on childcare support in 2019-20 – a record amount. This includes funding for our free early education entitlements, on which we plan to spend around £3.5 billion this year alone.

Higher Education: Standards

Gillian Keegan: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps his Department is taking to improve quality and choice in higher education.

Chris Skidmore: The department has established a new regulator, the Office for Students (OfS), and has given it the legislative powers and a clear remit to create the conditions in which the interests of students are consistently prioritised, and in which a diversity of high quality institutions can thrive. The OfS holds providers to account for delivering well-designed courses that offer successful outcomes for all of their students.The department is taking a number of steps to enhance the information, advice and guidance available to anyone considering higher education. In particular:We have introduced the Teaching Excellence and Student Outcomes Framework to provide students with reliable information about the quality of teaching and outcomes they can expect from different institutions.Through the Higher Education Open Data Competition, we are supporting the development of new, innovative digital tools to help provide information to prospective students on graduate outcomes.We are working with the OfS to redesign the higher education course comparison website, Unistats, by autumn 2019.

Visual Impairment: Education

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what steps he is taking to ensure that every young person with vision impairment has access to the same learning materials as their sighted peers.

Nadhim Zahawi: All schools have duties under the Equality Act (2010) towards individual disabled children and young people, including:to make reasonable adjustments, including the provision of auxiliary aids and services, to prevent them being put at a substantial disadvantage;not to discriminate in relation to their disability; andto publish accessibility plans setting out how they plan to increase access for disabled pupils to the curriculum, the physical environment and to information. (Local authorities have parallel duties to publish accessibility strategies.)Complementing this, the Children and Families Act (2014) places duties on schools to use their ‘best endeavours’ to make special education provision for those who need it, many of whom will have disabilities.Taken together, this amounts to a range of exacting duties on schools in relation to disability.To support schools in meeting those duties, in relation to vision impairment and more broadly, we are providing £3.4 million funding over 2018-2020, for the special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) schools’ workforce contract, which will be delivered by the Whole School SEND consortium, led by the National Association for Special Educational Needs, nasen. Our aim is to embed SEND into school-led approaches to school improvement in order to equip the workforce to deliver high quality teaching across all types of SEND. As part of this programme of work, we are also reviewing the learning outcomes of specialist SEND qualifications, including the mandatory qualifications for teachers of classes with vision impairment, to ensure they reflect the changing needs of the education system.

Special Educational Needs: Visual Impairment

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the Answer of 7 February to Question 216193 on Special Educational Needs: Visual Impairment, what powers have been awarded to the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation to follow up with awarding organisations when mistakes in adapted past papers and national tests for young people with a visual impairment are reported.

Nick Gibb: In relation to qualifications, this is a matter for Ofqual, the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation. I have asked its Chief Regulator, Sally Collier, to write to the Hon. Member and a copy of her reply will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses.   Ofqual regulates statutory national curriculum assessments. In doing this they have two statutory objectives: to promote the development and implementation of national assessments which give a reliable indication of achievement and indicate a consistent level of attainment, including over time, between comparable assessments; and to promote public confidence in national assessments. Ofqual has no specific powers to follow up with the Standards and Testing Agency (STA) if there are mistakes in national tests. Modified tests are developed by a Modified Test Agency contracted to STA, who conduct Quality Assurance proofing at different stages in the development of materials. STA also engages external proofers during this process to ensure that any errors in questions are detected and rectified before materials are sent to schools.

Schools: Admissions

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to ensure more students are allocated places at their preferred schools.

Nick Gibb: On Secondary National Offer Day on 1 March 2019, the vast majority of parents will have been offered a place at one of their preferred schools. The 2018 data showed that last year more than nine in ten pupils got a place at one of their top three choices, setting them on the path for a successful future. Standards have also risen since 2010 with 86% of schools now judged as good or outstanding, compared to 68% in 2010, meaning there are more good schools for parents to send their children to - and that is in part down to the Government’s reforms.The vast majority of new places are being created in the best existing schools or through good new schools. Data show 91% of places added in 2016/17 were in good and outstanding schools. Overall, the Government is on track to create 1 million new school places this decade (2010 to 2020), the largest increase in school capacity in 2 generations.

Schools: Finance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans his Department has to (a) increase school funding and (b) support secondary schools to reduce debts.

Nick Gibb: Spending plans beyond 2019/20 will be set at next Spending Review and these decisions cannot be pre-empted. The Department is committed to securing the right deal for education and ensuring schools are able to plan their budgets effectively for future years.While the core schools and high needs budget is rising from almost £41 billion in 2017/18 to £43.5 billion by 2019/20, the Department recognises the budgeting challenges schools face. That is why School Resource Management Strategy was published in August 2018, which sets out the support, current and planned, to help schools make the most of their available resources. The strategy can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/supporting-excellent-school-resource-management.

Students: Finance

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent progress his Department has made in its review of student finance; and when he plans to report on that review to the House.

Chris Skidmore: The review is making good progress.The independent panel will report shortly. The government will then conclude the overall review later this year.

Department of Education: Public Bodies

Angela Rayner: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what the budget was of each of his Department's (a) non-ministerial departments, (b) executive agencies, (c) executive non-departmental public bodies, (d) advisory non-departmental public bodies and (e) other agencies in the most recent financial year for which records are available.

Anne Milton: The central government supply estimate (supplementary) for the 2018-19 financial year, for each of the requested categories, is disclosed in the attached table. The department’s full supplementary estimate can be accessed at the following link: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/777880/supplementary_estimates_2018-19_web.pdf.



229145_table_department_supplementary_estimate
(Excel SpreadSheet, 74 KB)

Languages: Education

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of 16 to 18 year olds in full-time education studying foreign language courses in each year since 2010.

Nick Gibb: The number of 16-18 year olds studying modern foreign languages is not held centrally, but the number of students entering an A level exam in any modern foreign language has been provided as a proxy. The number of entries by students at the end of their 16-18 study in England for 2009/10 to 2017/18[1] inclusive is provided in the tables below. Further information can be found at: https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/a-level-and-other-16-to-18-results-2017-to-2018-revised. Number of entries (thousands)2009/1029.92010/1129.22011/1228.42012/1327.32013/1426.52014/15[2]27.72015/1626.82016/1726.52017/18[3],[4]25.8Source: 16-18 attainment data.  [1] Covers examination results of students aged 16, 17 or 18 at the start of the academic year, i.e. 31 August 2017.[2] Figures from 2012/13 to 2014/15 cover students at the end of advanced level study who were entered for at least one A level, applied single award A level, applied double award A level or combined A/AS level in the reporting year. Figures for earlier years cover students who were entered for at least one A level, applied single award A level, applied double award A level or combined A/AS level in the summer of the reporting year.[3] Figures for 2015/16 onwards cover students at the of advanced level study who were entered for at least one A/AS level, applied single A/AS level, applied double A/AS level or combined A/AS level during their 16-18 study. As a result there has been a large increase in the number of A level students since 2016 and therefore figures are not directly comparable to earlier years.[4] 2018 figures are based on revised data. Figures for all other years are final.

Education: Equal Pay

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent estimate his Department has made of gender-based pay inequality in the education sector.

Nick Gibb: The Office for National Statistics Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings 2018 provisional data shows that the median pay gap in the UK between male and female teaching and education professionals is 6.1%.The Department is committed to working with schools to address barriers that can prevent women from progressing in the workplace. £2 million has been invested in new nationwide school led equality and diversity hubs to share expertise and provide professional development for teachers with protected characteristics, including women. The Department is also working with school leaders to expand opportunities for flexible work in schools which will help to retain experienced female teachers in the profession.The School Teachers’ Pay and Conditions Document states that, ‘Procedures for determining pay must comply with all the requirements of discrimination legislation. Procedures for determining pay should also be consistent with the principles of public life – objectivity, openness and accountability.’

Schools: Opening Hours

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of schools in England that have reduced their school day opening hours in the last 12 months.

Nick Gibb: All schools in England have the autonomy to decide the structure and duration of their school day, which includes the flexibility to decide when their school day should start and finish. The Department has not made an estimate of these decisions taken by individual schools in England.Maintained schools are required to be open to educate their pupils for at least 380 sessions (190 days) each school year. Maintained schools cannot lawfully reduce the length of the school week if this takes the total number of sessions below that.In the event that a school decides to make changes to its school day, it is expected that the school should act reasonably when making such decisions; giving parents notices and considering the impacts on those affected.

Schools: Charitable Donations

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate his Department has made of the number of schools that have asked parents to donate towards activities that are part of the national curriculum in the last 12 months.

Nick Gibb: Information regarding how many schools ask parents for donations is not held centrally. Schools’ financial returns show that income from donations and voluntary funds has remained steady at about 0.7% of schools’ overall budgets since 2011/12.

Adult Education: Finance

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment his Department has been of the potential effect of the devolution of the adult education budget on the diversity of adult education provision.

Anne Milton: Orders enabling devolution of the Adult Education Budget (AEB) to Mayoral Combined Authorities (MCAs), from 2019/20 academic year onwards are now in force and were subject to the fulfilment of certain conditions. By fulfilling the conditions, my right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State, received assurance that MCAs are likely to improve the exercise of the functions in their area.In devolving the budget, the statutory duty to fund provision for learners aged 19 to 23 undertaking a first full level 2 qualification and/or first full level 3 qualification English and maths courses, for eligible adults aged 19 and over up to GCSE level, were also transferred. This also includes the upcoming digital skills entitlement.Devolution ensures that, in line with their Strategic Skills Plans and Local Industrial Strategies, MCAs will be in position to shape adult education and skills provision in a way that best fits the needs of their residents and local economy.

Training

Chi Onwurah: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when he plans to make an announcement on progress relating to the national retraining scheme.

Anne Milton: The National Retraining Scheme is an ambitious and far reaching programme to drive adult retraining, driven by a key partnership between the Confederation of British Industry, the Trade Union Congress and the government.In the 2018 Autumn Budget, my right hon. Friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a £100 million initial commitment to continue to develop the service, while allowing us to start the roll out of initial elements of the National Retraining Scheme to a small intake this summer. This is being informed by the extensive amount of user research we have undertaken and our ongoing Career Learning pilots, Flexible Learning fund and the Construction Industry Training Board Construction Skills fund. We envisage this first release will include high quality information, advice and guidance to help those whose jobs are at risk of automation to find training that will give them the skills to move into a better, more stable jobs.

Pupil Exclusions

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, when his Department plans to publish its response to the school exclusions review call for evidence; and what steps his Department plans to take in response to that call for evidence.

Nick Gibb: In March 2018, the Government launched an externally led review of exclusions practice, led by Edward Timpson CBE. The review is exploring how head teachers use exclusion, and why pupils with particular characteristics are more likely to be excluded from school.The review has gathered substantial evidence, including over 900 submissions to the call for evidence. Edward Timpson has also chaired a series of roundtables and the review has met with over 100 organisations and individuals, including schools, local authorities, parents and children.The review, along with the Government response, will be published in due course.

Common Travel Area: Education

Conor McGinn: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, pursuant to the answer of 19 June 2018 to Question 153188, whether reciprocal rights to study will include (a) third level education and (b) schooling; and whether those rights will cover cross-border provision across the Irish land border.

Chris Skidmore: Under the Common Travel Area arrangements, British and Irish citizens have the right to access all levels of education in either state on terms no less favourable than those available to the citizens of that state. Both the UK and Irish governments have committed to taking steps to ensure that this continues after the UK leaves the EU.These rights will continue to cover cross-border provision across the Irish land border.

Home Education

Paul Masterton: When his Department plans to publish a response to its call for evidence on home education.

Nick Gibb: There were more than 3000 responses to the call for evidence which are still being considered. Many dedicated families are doing a very good job educating their children at home, taking on heavy responsibilities in doing so.We are concerned, however, that overall numbers of children said to be being educated at home are rising, the reasons for which are complex. We need to help local authorities deal effectively with children who are not in school. We will publish the Government’s response soon.

Pupils: Absenteeism

Steve Double: What recent assessment he has made of the effect of fines for unauthorised school absence on school attendance levels.

Nick Gibb: Parents have a duty to ensure their child of compulsory school age, who is registered at school, attends regularly.We have not formally assessed the impact of penalty notices but comparable data shows overall absence rates have remained fairly stable across recent years, following a downward trend since 2006/07 (4.7% in 2016/17, compared to 6.5% in 2006/07).

Schools: Rural Areas

Maria Caulfield: What recent discussions he has had with the Chancellor of the Exchequer on additional funding for rural schools.

Nick Gibb: My right hon. Friend, the Secretary of State meets Her Majesty's Treasury Ministers regularly to discuss matters of shared interest, including funding for schools.The Department provides additional support aimed at rural schools. For example, the sparsity factor in the National Funding Formula allocates £25 million specifically to schools that are both small and remote.

Children: Day Care

Gordon Henderson: What recent progress his Department has made on helping families to access childcare.

Nadhim Zahawi: By 2020 this government will be spending £6 billion on supporting families with childcare. All 3 and 4 year olds, and the most disadvantaged 2 year olds, can access 15 hours a week of early education. From September 2017, this government doubled the childcare entitlement for working parents of 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours a week. We recognise that parents’ working patterns vary significantly and want to ensure that the free entitlements deliver childcare to meet their needs, as well as being high quality early education to support the development needs of children. We are also encouraging partnerships between providers to support flexible provision. In particular, we want 30 hours to continue to build on the flexible provision that we were already seeing across the country with the universal 15 hours. All the free entitlements can be “stretched” by taking fewer hours per week over up to 52 weeks of the year to cover term-time and the school holidays, for example 23 hours for 48 weeks of the year, and free places can be delivered at weekends.

Church Commissioners

Christ Church College

Frank Field: To ask the right hon. Member for Meriden, representing the Church Commissioners, when she expects the internal investigation into complaints against the Dean of Christ Church college Oxford to conclude.

Dame Caroline Spelman: Uniquely, Christ Church Oxford is a joint foundation comprising both College and Cathedral.The independent tribunal to investigate a complaint against the conduct of the Dean is taking place under the statutes of Christ Church, not under Church legislation. Neither the Church Commissioners nor the wider Church of England have any role in setting the timetable or terms of reference for the tribunal. I am given to understand that the last scheduled hearing is currently timetabled for early July and await the outcome of that process.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Sites of Special Scientific Interest

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what proportion of Sites of Special Scientific Interest have not had an assessment within the six-year monitoring cycle.

Helen Hayes: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has of made of the proportion of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in unfavourable recovering conditions; and what targets his Department has set for the improvement of conditions of SSSIs.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: As of 26 February 2019, 54% of the 4,122 Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) had not had an assessment by Natural England within the past six years.54.7% of SSSI land is in unfavourable recovering condition. The Government’s 25 Year Environment Plan sets a new ambitious target to restore 75% of SSSIs by area to favourable condition by 2042, securing their wildlife value for the long term. Available information is published online at: https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/ I have asked Natural England for an assessment of the greatest impacts on SSSI condition as part of the development of the Nature Strategy we are committed to in the 25 Year Environment Plan.

Hunting

Jared O'Mara: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps he is taking to ensure that the research and observation exemption claimed by people hunting deer with dogs under section 9 of the Hunting Act 2004 is legitimately claimed; and what information his Department holds on whether any such research has been published.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Section 9 of the Hunting Act 2004 does not relate to the research and observation exception under the Act. Paragraph 9, Schedule 1 of the Hunting Act 2004 sets out an exception for research and observation. The Department does not hold information on the application of that exemption or any research published under or relating to it. Anyone who has information about individuals illegitimately relying on the research and observation exemption should report the matter to the police, as they deal with complaints of illegal hunting.

Fracking: Lancashire

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps are being taken to prevent methane leaking from the fracking site operated by Cuadrilla at Preston New Road.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The environmental permit issued by the Environment Agency (EA) sets legally binding conditions to control both fugitive emissions (leaks) and point source emissions (from flaring). The levels of methane in the ambient air are monitored at the site boundary by the operator and independently ‘off site’ by the EA and the British Geological Survey. In January, in line with strict requirements of the site’s permit, the operator notified the EA when methane levels were detected above the reporting thresholds at the site boundary. These thresholds are set at a precautionary level to ensure a substantial level of protection. The EA’s assessment is that emissions have been well below the levels that would constitute a risk to people or the environment. Cuadrilla has an approved programme of activity to detect and repair leaks. The EA audited this on 15 January 2019 and no non-compliances were found. There is no evidence to indicate that methane is currently leaking from the site. The notified levels are understood to have been as a result of short term operation of the on-site flare. The EA is currently reviewing and auditing the operations of the flare and it will subsequently report its detailed assessment and findings.

Inland Waterways

Laura Smith: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he has plans to bring forward legislative proposals, similar to provisions in the Land Reform (Scotland) Act 2003, to improve access to inland waterways.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government currently has no plans to legislate on this issue.

Food: Safety

Sue Hayman: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, if the Government will bring forward legislative proposals to ensure that the UK aligns with the package of regulations set out under the EU's smarter rules for safer food proposals after the UK has left the EU.

David Rutley: The UK has been influential in the development of the Smarter Rules for Safer Food regulations since their inception and we are broadly supportive of them. Our approach to these regulations is guided by our commitment to maintaining both the highest standards of biosecurity in the UK and frictionless trade at the border. If Parliament approves the deal negotiated by the Government, the EU Plant Health and Official Controls regulations will start to apply in the UK during the implementation period, on 14 December 2019. The Animal Health regulation will apply in the EU from April 2021, after the end of the proposed implementation period, so it would not apply directly to the UK. In this situation, while we support the overall principles, we would review the final details to determine our overall approach to alignment. If the UK leaves the EU without a deal, our approach on alignment will be determined by taking account of the final details of the three regulations, including the associated tertiary legislation which is still being negotiated.

Derelict Land: Asbestos

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of the proportion of brownfield sites that have been contaminated by asbestos.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: The Government has made no assessment of the proportion of brownfield sites that have been contaminated by asbestos. It is the statutory duty of local authorities to identify contaminated land in their areas and to ensure that risks to human health and the environment are removed. Contaminated land is legally defined by Part 2A of the Environmental Protection Act 1990.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what the per annum cost is of the additional staff his Department has recruited since June 2016 to work on projects relating to the UK leaving the EU.

David Rutley: As at 31 January 2019 Defra group has recruited around 2,200 additional staff to support our comprehensive programme of work to support our departure from the EU. The annual cost of these additional staff is expected to be around £190 million in 2019/20. This assessment includes estimates of pay, pension, and national insurance contributions plus an estimate of overheads.

Food Insecurity Bill

Mrs Emma Lewell-Buck: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, with reference to the oral contribution of 4 March 2019 by the hon. Member for South Shields, Official Report, column 749, when he plans to make a statement on the Government's response to the Food Insecurity Bill.

David Rutley: The Honourable Member’s Bill is scheduled for Second Reading on Friday 22 March. It is not usual practice for the Government to make a statement on a Private Member’s Bill.

Air Pollution: Scunthorpe

Nic Dakin: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2019 to Question 226666 on Air Pollution: Scunthorpe, if he will provide that same information for Scunthorpe in the North Lincolnshire local authority area.

Dr Thérèse Coffey: Scunthorpe is in North Lincolnshire local authority area. The Council reported in its 2018 Air Quality Annual Status Report (ASR) that their PM2.5 monitors did not record a breach of the statutory limit value, which is 25 micrograms per metre cubed. The council also stated that they are running campaigns to discourage waste burning and bonfires to address PM2.5, and carrying out environmental permit improvement programmes.

Food: Standards

Mr Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what recent discussions his Department has had with representatives of the farming industry on the food standards element of a future trade deal with the US.

David Rutley: Ministers and officials meet regularly with representatives of the farming industry to discuss the UK’s departure from the EU and future trade opportunities. We have been clear that any future trade agreements must work for consumers, farmers, and businesses in the UK. We will maintain our standards on food safety, animal welfare and environmental protection as part of any future trade deals.

Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs: Brexit

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, how much his Department has spent on external consultants for work relating to the UK leaving the EU in each year since 2016.

David Rutley: Given over 80% of Defra’s agenda is affected by the UK’s departure from the EU, it is not possible to determine whether contracts relate solely to the UK leaving the EU. Accordingly, we are unable to estimate total expenditure on external consultants for work relating to the UK leaving the EU since 2016.In September, the National Audit Office reported that Defra has specific contracts with BCG and PWC, up to the values of £9.5 million and £6.7 million respectively, to support the Department’s preparations for leaving the EU.

Horse Passports: EU Law

Emma Reynolds: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, when he will publish his Department’s plans on how to implement EU Equine Passport Regulation – (EU) No. 2015/262; and whether his Department has developed alternative proposals for when the UK leaves the EU.

David Rutley: The EU Equine Passport Regulation, (EU) No. 2015/262, applies directly to the UK. Secondary legislation supplements and makes provision for its enforcement. Defra was responsible for introducing The Equine Identification (England) Regulations 2018, SI 2018 No. 761, which came into force on 1 October 2018. Since then, the Equine Identification (England) (EU Exit) regulations 2018 (SI 2018 No. 1409) and The Equine (Records, Identification and Movement)(Amendment)(EU Exit) Regulations 2019 have been introduced in order to make the necessary technical changes to retained EU legislation so that equine records, movements and identification remain operable upon the UK leaving the EU.

Department for Exiting the European Union

Free Movement of People

Sir Edward Davey: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, whether the Prime Minister has entered into correspondence with the European Council on changing the mandate of the European Commission to allow for the adoption of part two of the Withdrawal Agreement on citizens’ rights under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union.

Mr Robin Walker: An error has been identified in the written answer given on 11 March 2019.The correct answer should have been:

From the very beginning the Prime Minister has been clear that safeguarding the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU was her first priority for negotiations. The best way to guarantee those rights, both for UK nationals in the EU and EU citizens in the UK, is through the Withdrawal Agreement.On 27 February, the House of Commons supported a proposal by Alberto Costa MP which requires the Government to seek a joint UK/EU commitment to preserve the citizens’ rights section of the Withdrawal Agreement, whatever the outcome of negotiations.The Secretary of State Steve Barclay has now written to the EU’s lead Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, on ring-fencing the Citizens’ Rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement. This letter has also been copied to Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator and shared with the Secretary-General. Copies of the letter have been placed in the libraries of both Houses and it has been published online at gov.uk.The Secretary of State Steve Barclay has now written to the EU’s lead Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, on ring-fencing the Citizens’ Rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement. This letter has also been shared with Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator and the Secretary General of the European Council. Copies of the letter have been placed in the libraries of both Houses and it has been published online at gov.uk.

Mr Robin Walker: From the very beginning the Prime Minister has been clear that safeguarding the rights of EU citizens living in the UK and UK nationals living in the EU was her first priority for negotiations. The best way to guarantee those rights, both for UK nationals in the EU and EU citizens in the UK, is through the Withdrawal Agreement.On 27 February, the House of Commons supported a proposal by Alberto Costa MP which requires the Government to seek a joint UK/EU commitment to preserve the citizens’ rights section of the Withdrawal Agreement, whatever the outcome of negotiations.The Secretary of State Steve Barclay has now written to the EU’s lead Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, on ring-fencing the Citizens’ Rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement. This letter has also been copied to Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator and shared with the Secretary-General. Copies of the letter have been placed in the libraries of both Houses and it has been published online at gov.uk.The Secretary of State Steve Barclay has now written to the EU’s lead Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier, on ring-fencing the Citizens’ Rights part of the Withdrawal Agreement. This letter has also been shared with Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator and the Secretary General of the European Council. Copies of the letter have been placed in the libraries of both Houses and it has been published online at gov.uk.

Brexit

Mr Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what Bills need to be passed by Parliament by 29 March 2019 in order for the UK to leave the EU.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The Government has undertaken extensive work to identify the primary legislation essential to deliver our exit from the EU in different scenarios.Much of this legislation is already in place, for example The Taxation (Cross-border Trade) Act, The Nuclear Safeguards Act and the Haulage Permits and Trailer Registration Act, and a number of important statutory instruments.The Government is confident that we will have all the necessary legislation in place by exit day.

Brexit

Mr Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate the Government has made of the length of time required for the full implementation of all EU-exit related Acts of Parliament.

Kwasi Kwarteng: The length of time required for the full implementation of all EU-exit related Acts of Parliament will depend on the specific nature of each Act.The Government is confident that we will have all the necessary legislation in place by Exit Day.

Brexit: Statutory Instruments

Mr Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, how many EU-exit related statutory instruments have been approved.

Chris Heaton-Harris: Over 480 exit related statutory instruments (80% of the up to 600 expected by exit day) have been laid. Votes and Proceedings provides the lists of SIs that have been approved by the House.

Brexit: Statutory Instruments

Mr Dominic Grieve: To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, what estimate the Government has made of the number of EU-exit related statutory instruments that are required to be approved by 29 March.

Chris Heaton-Harris: The Government expects to make up to 600 statutory instruments by exit day.

Wales Office

Crimes of Violence: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent discussions he has had with the Home Secretary on trends in violent crime in Wales; and what the outcomes were of those discussions.

Alun Cairns: The Home Secretary and I have regular discussions on a range of issues. Furthermore, ministers from my Department are members of the Inter-Ministerial Group on the Serious Violence Strategy.The Government’s Serious Violence Strategy, published in April 2018, sets out the action we are taking to address serious violence and in particular the recent increases in knife crime, gun crime and homicide.The Strategy outlines an ambitious programme of robust commitments and actions. It sets out a very significant programme of work involving a range of Government Departments and partners in the public, voluntary and private sectors.

Wales Office: Domestic Visits

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, if he will list the (a) visits he has made to Welsh Parliamentary constituencies and (b) the purpose for each of those visits in each of the last 12 months.

Alun Cairns: Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Ministers regularly visit Parliamentary constituencies in Wales. In each instance, the respective honourable Member is notified of the visit. Details of Ministerial visits and meetings are published on the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales website and in Quarterly Ministerial Transparency Returns. In addition, visits and meetings conducted in support of the Wales Office Business Plan are published in the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Annual Report and Accounts.Office of the Secretary of State for Wales Ministers are always keen to receive invitation requests from honourable Members.

Stronger Towns Fund: Wales

Chris Ruane: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government on the potential effect of the Stronger Towns fund on Welsh communities.

Alun Cairns: I have had discussions with a number of cabinet colleagues about the Stronger Towns Fund and how this will apply across the UK. We will ensure that towns in Wales can benefit from the Fund, building on the success of our City and Growth Deals initiative.

Ministry of Justice

Berwyn Prison: Staff

Liz Saville Roberts: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many staff (a) resigned, (b) were regraded, (c) were transferred and (d) dismissed from HMP Berwyn in 2018.

Rory Stewart: HMP Berwyn will continue to recruit staff in 2019 and across the estate we have recruited 4,300 additional prison officers since October 2015 - a key measure in turning offender’s lives around. To boost retention, we have awarded our hardworking prison officers with their highest pay increase for a decade and we’re equipping staff with the tools to do their job safely - rolling out PAVA incapacitant spray and body-worn cameras. The average staff in post figure for 1 January and 30 September 2018 was 613.The number of staff at HMP Berwyn who have resigned, transferred, been dismissed, or have re-graded between 1 January and 30 September 2018 is provided in the table below:Table 1: HMPPS staff at HMP Berwyn who have resigned, were re-graded, have transferred1, or have been dismissed, 01 January - 30 September 2018 Headcount of staffResignations49Re-graded46Transfers3Dismissals41 Includes transfers to the public sector and other government departments.Figures for October – December 2018 will be available on 21 February 2019.In the 12 months to 30 September 2018 there were 116 members of staff who joined HMP Berwyn and the number of permanent staff who left was 71. The overall leaving rate for the 12-month period was 12%.

Magistrates' Courts: Witnesses

Jo Stevens: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of trends in the level of non-appearances by (a) defendants and (b) witnesses in magistrates’ courts over the last three years.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 04 February 2019



There are two main sources of data on defendants failing to appear (FTA). Data on trials where the defendant fails to appear in the magistrates’ court shows that there has been an increase between 2015 and 2017. FTA201520162017631416592267411In the same time period there has been little change in the total number of warrants issued for failure to attend in magistrates’ courts for all hearings.Numbers of FTA warrants issued201520162017929839286293317Figures for warrants are broader, including warrants that relate not only to trials but also all other hearings and those issued for failure to comply with the requirements of an order or breach on summons in relation to an order. Analysts in HMCTS and MoJ have confirmed we cannot be sure of the causes of changes in FTA. Data on non-appearance of witnesses is not held by the Ministry of Justice or HMCTS.

Courts: Closures

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts his Department has closed since 1 January 2010; on what dates those court buildings were sold; and what the value of each of those sales was.

Lucy Frazer: The sale of surplus buildings provides important funding for the programme of reform which is transforming our courts and tribunals. We make sure that the sale of former court buildings maximises the amount we can reinvest in modernisation. The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Consultants

Yasmin Qureshi: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much Her Majesty's Courts and Tribunal Service plans to spend on consultancies in total; and how much and on which consultancies that service plans to spend (a) more and (b) less than £50,000 in the 2018-19 financial year.

Lucy Frazer: The following table shows the amounts of expenditure on consultants planned by HMCTS for the 18/19 financial year.SupplierFY ForecastNotesPWC - Delivery Partner18,041,125Strategic advice on Reform ProgrammeMethods Business & Digital Technology LTD2,118,619Judicial engagement project to raise awareness of HMCTS reformRevolving Doors72,000Improve digital services in HMCTS service centresPORISM LTD2,385Documenting workshops for three service projectPinsett Mansons14,233Legal advice re Authorised Enforcement Agency projectCabinet Office23,628Consultancy services on Transforming Compliance and Enforcement ProgrammesVeracity56,574Refinancial ServicesBeamans Ltd4,296Profile EvaluationsBeamans Ltd28,050Job families frameworkBeamans Ltd20,000Profile Evaluations (JECS or JEPS)Beamans Ltd32,346Profile Evaluations (JECS or JEPS)Cabinet Office1,050Work on MoJ participation in National Fraud InitiativePA Consultancy Services LTD1,402Facilitation Services for staff away dayDeloitte87,500Financial services forecast for remainder 18/19Total20,503,208 The majority of spend relates to the PWC Delivery Partner contract, which provides strategic advice and support across HMCTS Reform Note that the figure cited above includes VAT. It should be noted that the PWC contract is a strategic partnership contract that replaced several individual contracts, and as such gives us access to specialist skills across the change spectrum.

Coroners

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what discussions his Department has had with the Office of the Chief Coroner on the recording of known veterans as such in inquests where the verdict is one of suicide.

Gordon Marsden: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Defence on enabling coroners to access departmental information to determine whether a person on whom an inquest has been held where the verdict was suicide was a veteran.

Edward Argar: Holding answer received on 04 March 2019



Any suicide is a tragedy, and we take the welfare of our brave service men and women extremely seriously. For data on suicides amongst veterans to be of value, the information collected must be reliable, consistent and comprehensive. It is not possible to achieve this through coroners’ inquest conclusions for a number of practical and administrative reasons, including the parameters of the coroner’s role. Ministry of Justice officials have talked to colleagues in the Chief Coroner’s Office about the issues to do with coroners recording whether the deceased had ever served in the armed forces. Ministers from the Ministry of Justice and the Ministry of Defence have not explicitly discussed coroners accessing information held by other government departments in suicide cases, but have on several occasions discussed the issue of veterans in inquests. More widely, the Government recognises the need to gather data on veterans in the criminal justice system. The Ministry of Justice will continue to work with the Ministry of Defence and other government departments to explore how we can further this objective.

Administration of Justice: ICT

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what proportion of estimated cost to the public purse of the probation and courts IT systems failure in January 2019 has been recovered from IT suppliers.

Lucy Frazer: The financial impact(s) on operations following the IT outage are still being assessed, therefore at this stage the Ministry of Justice cannot provide an estimate of the cost to the public purse. We continue to work to leverage remedies available under the contract with our supplier, but at this stage cannot state how much will be recovered.

Administration of Justice: ICT

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether his Department has undertaken a review into the causes of the probation and courts IT systems failure in January 2019.

Lucy Frazer: A review of the IT issues experienced in January and the resiliency of our core IT systems is currently being conducted by a Ministry of Justice Non-Executive Director and will report to the Permanent Secretary.

Courts: Closures

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment his Department has made of the effect of court closures on the time taken for hearings to be listed.

Lucy Frazer: Holding answer received on 06 March 2019



HM Courts & Tribunals Service closely monitors the operational performance of courts in England and Wales, including listing timeliness. Court statistics, including listing timeliness, are routinely published on GOV.UK; Criminal - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2018 Family - https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/family-court-statistics-quarterly-july-to-september-2018 Civil - https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/civil-justice-statistics-quarterly#2018 Court performance is influenced by many factors which include, but are not limited to, available judicial resource, changes in the offence and case mix and the overall performance of other justice sector agencies. The decision to close a court has not been taken lightly. In the case of court closure, we undertook a public consultation exercise and considered the responses we received very carefully. The Lord Chancellor only agreed to close the court when satisfied that there was sufficient capacity in the remaining estate, and that effective access to justice would be maintained when the court closed.

Trials

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many court cases have proceeded in the absence of a defendant in each of the last five years.

Lucy Frazer: The tables below show the number of trials heard in the absence of the defendant in magistrates’ courts and in the Crown Court. Trials heard in absence of a defendant in a magistrates’ court20142015201620172018 (January- September)12,44314,13213,74313,98110,262 Trials heard in absence of a defendant in the Crown Court20142015201620172018 (January- September)211810912 In the Magistrates’, the court can proceed with a trial in the absence of the defendant unless it would be contrary to the interests of justice. In the Crown Court, the judge has the discretion to permit a trial to proceed in the defendant’s absence. The priority is to ensure the case can be concluded fairly and that victims, witnesses, and the public can see justice being done.

HM Courts and Tribunals Service: Probate Service

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many members of staff in the Probate Service have applied to work in a Courts and Tribunal Service Centre in the last six months.

Lucy Frazer: The number of staff in the Probate service who have applied to work in a Courts and Tribunal Service Centre in the last six months is one member of staff.

Probate Service: Contracts

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what consultation with recognised trades unions his Department undertook on the proposal to use bulk scanning and printing services in the Probate Service before that contract had been signed with the supplier.

Lucy Frazer: HMCTS began consultation with its recognised Trade Unions on the provision of bulk scanning and printing services in October 2017. This included the intention to use these arrangements for probate services. HMCTS has remained in dialogue with the Trade Unions since this point. The contract was signed in April 2018.

Divorce

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken was for (a) the issue of a divorce petition and (b) the issue of divorce petition to decree nisi in each of the last two years.

Lucy Frazer: A decree nisi is the provisional decree of divorce pronounced when the court is satisfied that a person has met the legal and procedural requirements to obtain a divorce. When a party applies for divorce, the court must complete administrative checks before it can issue the divorce petition. The time taken between the issue of a petition to when a decree nisi is granted is affected by a range of factors, including the respondent acknowledging that they have received the petition, the petitioner applying for the decree nisi, and the court considering the case and listing a hearing to pronounce the decree nisi. YearAverage time from receipt to issuing of petition Average time from issuing of petition to decree nisi Mean averageMedian averageMean averageMedian average20162.1 days0.0 days24.1 weeks17.0 weeks20173.6 days0.0 days23.7 weeks15.9 weeks2018 (January-September)8.3 days3.0 days27.9 weeks20.3 weeks

Aiding and Abetting: Children and Young People

Mr Barry Sheerman: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many people under 18 years old are serving life sentences due to convictions under joint enterprise law.

Lucy Frazer: The Ministry of Justice only collects information on how many defendants are prosecuted and convicted for each offence in any given year. Information is not collated on whether a prosecution or conviction relied on the law of joint enterprise. Such information may be held on court records, but could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

Probate: Charitable Donations

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment he has made of the potential effect of increased probate fees on levels of charitable giving.

Lucy Frazer: Fixed sum charitable donations will be unaffected by the increased probate fees; the changes will only affect those estates where the deceased has left an entire estate, or a percentage of their residuary estate to charity. No estate will ever pay more than 0.5% of its value in probate fees.

Probate: Charities

Mr Jonathan Lord: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if he will make an assessment of the merits of the conclusion of the Institute of Legacy Management in November 2018 that changes to probate fees could cost charities in the region of £10 million annually in legacy income.

Lucy Frazer: Fixed sum donations will not be affected by the proposed increase in fees. The changes will only affect those estates where the deceased has left an entire estate, or a percentage of their residuary estate to charity. The proposed fees are proportional to the value of the estate, meaning that no estate will ever pay more than 0.5% of its value in probate fees. However, we are aware of the figure cited by the Institute of Legacy Management and will carefully consider this assessment, should the Institute of Legacy Management be open to sharing their data with the department. We are unable to consider the merits of their conclusion otherwise, as the Probate Service does not collect data regarding charitable donations left in wills.

Ministry of Justice: Equal Pay

Dawn Butler: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, for what reasons his Department missed the deadline or refiled its gender pay gap data for 2017-18.

Edward Argar: The Ministry of Justice did not miss the deadline or refile its gender pay gap data for 2017-18 and this data was filed on time. The Ministry was however required to revise its Gender Pay Gap data for 2016-17 as, in reviewing the data for 2017-18 report calculation, it became apparent that the calculations for the 2016-17 Gender Pay Gap report incorrectly included Occupational Sick Pay (OSP) in addition to normal pay. The Ministry of Justice had previously submitted its 2016-17 figures within the required deadline, however, as it is not possible to amend an existing entry once submitted, the 2016-17 figures had to be refiled and therefore showing as missing the original deadline.

Immigration: Appeals

Stephen Timms: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many immigration appeals are pending in ETS-linked cases.

Lucy Frazer: Information on ETS-linked immigration appeals is not held centrally, and could only be provided at disproportionate cost.

Employment Tribunals Service: Fees and Charges

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate his Department has made of the value of employment tribunal fees that have yet to be reimbursed through the fee refund scheme.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to contact those people eligible for the employment tribunal fee refund scheme who have not yet applied.

Peter Kyle: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the average time taken is for the completion of claims made under the employment tribunal fee refund scheme in the most recent period for which figures are available.

Lucy Frazer: The estimated cost of refunding the fees, with interest, is around £33m, plus administration costs. From the launch of the employment tribunal fee refund scheme on 15 November 2017 to 30 September 2018 (the latest available data), there have been 21,500 applications for refunds received and 20,000 refund payments made, with a total value of £15,825,000. Therefore the estimated value of ET fees that have yet to be reimbursed is in the order of £17m as of 30 September 2018. Details of the number and value of refunds paid are included in the MoJ’s regular quarterly statistical bulletin ‘Tribunals and gender recognition certificate statistics quarterly.’ The most recent bulletin was published on 13 December 2018. The next bulletin is due to be published on 14 March 2019.The refund scheme was announced on 20th October 2017 through an article on the gov.uk website, letters to parliamentarians, and disseminated information through partners such as trades unions, the Law Society and the Citizens Advice Bureau. In April 2018, we wrote to everyone entitled to a refund and who had not yet applied, as well as interested MPs, to ensure they are aware of the scheme and how to apply. This was completed in July 2018. We will continue to monitor the progress of the refund scheme going forward.The average length of time from receipt to payment for a single refund application, where the required information has been provided and is submitted online is working 5 working days. For those refund applications submitted by post the average length of time is 10 working days.

Courts: Closures

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts his Department closed in 2010; on what dates those court buildings were sold; and what the value was of those sales.

Lucy Frazer: The decision to close a court is never taken lightly. Court closures have taken place following a public consultation and only when the Lord Chancellor was satisfied that effective access to justice could be maintained. We have closed less efficient courts allowing for resources to be concentrated into a smaller number of better quality and more flexible buildings. The table below provides a list of courts closed in the 2010/11 financial year, their date of sale and the disposal proceeds. Courts and tribunals closed during 2010-2011 financial yearDate soldProceedsWantage Magistrates’ CourtJan-16657,000 Please note the list does not include court integrations.

Courts: Closures

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts his Department closed in 2011; on what dates those court buildings were sold; and what the value was of each of those sales.

Lucy Frazer: The decision to close a court is never taken lightly. Court closures have taken place following a public consultation and only when the Lord Chancellor was satisfied that effective access to justice could be maintained. We have closed less efficient courts allowing for resources to be concentrated into a smaller number of better quality and more flexible buildings. The table below provides a list of courts closed in the 2011/12 financial year, their date of sale and the disposal proceeds. Courts closed during 2011/12 financial yearDate SoldProceeds (£)Aberdare County CourtApr-12275,000Aberdare Magistrates Court,Located within same building as aboven/aAbertillery Magistrates CourtSep-1181,000Acton Magistrates CourtFeb-121,176,665Alnwick Magistrates CourtMar-1320,000Amersham Magistrates CourtLocated within Amersham Law Courts, building did not closen/aAmmanford Magistrates CourtOct-1290,000Ashford County CourtSep-13375,000Ashford Magistrates CourtLocated within same building as aboven/aBalham Youth CourtJun-132,000,000Barking & Dagenham Magistrates CourtMar-13505,000Barry Magistrates CourtJun-12250,000Batley & Dewsbury Magistrates CourtJun-14300,000Bingley (Keighley) Magistrates CourtJun-18253,310Bishop Auckland County CourtAug-14150,000Bishop Auckland Magistrates CourtLocated within same building as aboven/aBlandford Forum Magistrates CourtNov-11175,000Blaydon Magistrates CourtMar-13145,000Brentford Magistrates Court,Feb-12650,000Bridgwater Magistrates CourtMar-15186,000Camborne Magistrates CourtMar-12137,500Cardigan Magistrates CourtApr-1348,910Cheltenham County CourtLocated within Cheltenham Magistrates’ Court, building did not close.n/aChepstow County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aChepstow Magistrates CourtLeasehold propertyn/aChorley County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aCirencester Magistrates CourtSep-17450,000Coalville Magistrates CourtMar-12245,000Coleford Magistrates CourtFeb-16170,000Consett County CourtJun-1295,000Cromer Magistrates CourtJun-14325,000Daventry Magistrates CourtMar-14140,000Dewsbury County CourtApr-13276,000Didcot Magistrates CourtAug-13400,000Ely Magistrates CourtJul-131Epping Magistrates CourtFeb-15750,000Epsom County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aEpsom Magistrates CourtLocated within same building as aboven/aEvesham County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aFlint Magistrates CourtApr-1587,500Frome Magistrates CourtMar-15397,000Goole County CourtJun-1560,000Goole Magistrates CourtLocated within same building as aboven/aGosforth Magistrates CourtMar-14378,000Grantham County CourtMar-17112,000Gravesend County CourtSep-11100,000Grays Magistrates CourtSep-12365,475Guisborough (East Langbaurgh) Magistrates CourtMay-12275,000Halesowen Magistrates CourtSep-13314,250Harlow County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aHarrow Magistrates CourtMar-121,125,000Hemel Hempstead Magistrates CourtFeb-13650,000Hitchin County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aHoniton Magistrates CourtNov-14183,000Houghton-Le-Spring Magistrates CourtJun-1590,000Huntingdon County CourtLocated within Huntingdon Law Courts, building did not closen/aIlford County CourtJan-131,313,013Ilkeston Magistrates CourtOct-12610,000Keighley County CourtNov-13130,000Kidderminster County Court,Located within Kidderminster Magistrates' Court, building did not closen/aKingston-upon-Thames Magistrates CourtLeasehold propertyn/aKnowsley Magistrates Court,May-14250,000Lewes Magistrates CourtApr-151,900,000Liskeard Magistrates Court,Dec-13380,000Llandovery Magistrates CourtOwned by local authorityn/aLlangefni Magistrates CourtLeasehold property - Lease sold32,228Llwynypia Magistrates CourtDec-11471,010Lowestoft County CourtLocated within Lowestoft Magistrates' Court, building did not closen/aLudlow County Court,Leasehold propertyn/aLudlow Magistrates CourtLeasehold propertyn/aLyndhurst Magistrates CourtDisposal pending - Offer received and in solicitors handsn/aMarket Drayton Magistrates CourtSep-15100,000Market Harborough Magistrates CourtJun-12291,500Melton Mowbray County CourtJan-14147,000Melton Mowbray Magistrates CourtLocated within same building as aboven/aMid-Sussex (Haywards Heath) Magistrates CourtDec-142,105,000Haywards Heath County CourtLocated within same building as aboven/aNewark County CourtAug-12405,000Newark Magistrates CourtLocated within same building as aboven/aNewbury County Court,Co-located in Newbury Magistrates' Court which remained openn/aNorthwich County Court (same building as Mags),Apr-12260,000Northwich Magistrates Court (FPC) (same as County)Located within same building as aboven/aOswestry County CourtDec-18110,602Oswestry Magistrates CourtLocated within same building as above110,602Penrith County Court (same building as Mags)Mar-12174,600Penrith Magistrates Court (same building a County)Located within same building as aboven/aPenzance County CourtJul-12230,000Penzance Magistrates CourtLeasehold propertyn/aPontypool County CourtJun-14200,000Poole County CourtLocated within Poole Magistrates' Court which remained openn/aPwllheli Magistrates CourtDec-12131,013Rawtenstall County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aRawtenstall Magistrates CourtOct-13135,000Redditch County CourtApr-14345,000Retford Magistrates CourtJan-14151,000Rochdale Magistrates CourtAug-14330,000Rugby County CourtFeb-13285,000Rugby Magistrates CourtLocated within same building as aboven/aRuncorn County CourtLocated within Runcorn Magistrates' Court which remained openn/aRutland Magistrates CourtLeasehold propertyn/aSalford County CourtLocated within County Court business centre (Admin centre)n/aSalford Magistrates CourtMar-14544,000Shrewsbury County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aSittingbourne Magistrates CourtJan-13430,000Skegness County CourtLocated within Skegness Magistrates' Court, which remained openn/aSouthport (North Sefton) Magistrates CourtMay-14304,000Southport County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aStourbridge County CourtMay-16345,000Stratford Upon Avon County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aSudbury Magistrates CourtJun-13112,000Sutton Coldfield Magistrates CourtJul-12440,000Sutton Magistrates CourtMar-122,247,000Swaffham Magistrates CourtJun-13155,000Tamworth County CourtJul-13437,500Tamworth Magistrates CourtLocated within same building as above Thetford Magistrates CourtAug-13232,500Totnes Magistrates CourtSep-16237,000Towcester Magistrates CourtFeb-1850,000Tynedale (Hexham) Magistrates CourtJun-12102,500Wellingborough County CourtBased within a Department of Work and Pensions buildingn/aWest Bromwich Magistrates CourtJun-12160,000Whitehaven County CourtLeasehold propertyn/aWhitehaven Magistrates CourtDec-13200,000Wimborne Magistrates CourtJul-15310,000Wisbech Magistrates CourtMar-14151,350Witney Magistrates CourtJul-11330,000Woking Magistrates CourtOct-131,050,000Woolwich Magistrates CourtMay-12335,000Worksop County CourtLocated within Worksop Magistrates' Court, which remained openn/aTo note, the list does not include court integrations.

Courts: Closures

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts his Department closed in 2012; on what dates those court buildings were sold; and what the value was of each of those sales.

Lucy Frazer: The decision to close a court is never taken lightly. Court closures have taken place following a public consultation and only when the Lord Chancellor was satisfied that effective access to justice could be maintained. We have closed less efficient courts allowing for resources to be concentrated into a smaller number of better quality and more flexible buildings. The table below provides a list of courts closed in the 2012/13 financial year, their date of sale and the disposal proceeds. Courts closed during year 2012/13 financial yearDate SoldProceeds (£)Burton Upon Trent County CourtMay-15185,000Haringey Magistrates CourtApr-1410,100,000Pontefract Magistrates and County CourtJun-16205,000Stoke on Trent Magistrates CourtApr-15200,000Selby Magistrates CourtDec-14186,000Weston Super Mare Magistrates' CourtAug-16116,078 Please note the list does not include court integrations.

Courts: Closures

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts his Department closed in 2013; on what dates those court buildings were sold; and what the value was of each of those sales.

Lucy Frazer: The decision to close a court is never taken lightly. Court closures have taken place following a public consultation and only when the Lord Chancellor was satisfied that effective access to justice could be maintained. We have closed less efficient courts allowing for resources to be concentrated into a smaller number of better quality and more flexible buildings. The table below provides a list of courts closed in the 2013/14 financial year, their date of sale and the disposal proceeds.  Courts closed during 2013/14 financial yearDate SoldProceeds (£)Abergavenny Magistrates' CourtFeb-16460,000Andover Magistrates CourtJul-15537,500Denbigh Magistrates CourtDec-13165,000North Liverpool Community Justice CentreLeaseholdN/ATower Bridge Magistrates CourtMar-148,525,000 To note, the list does not include integrations.

Courts: Closures

Richard Burgon: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, which courts his Department closed in 2014; on what dates those court buildings were sold; and what the value was of each of those sales.

Lucy Frazer: The decision to close a court is never taken lightly. Court closures have taken place following a public consultation and only when the Lord Chancellor was satisfied that effective access to justice could be maintained. We have closed less efficient courts allowing for resources to be concentrated into a smaller number of better quality and more flexible buildings. The table below provides a list of courts closed in the 2014/15 financial year, their date of sale and the disposal proceeds. Courts closed during 2014/15 financial yearDate SoldProceeds (£)Alton Magistrates’ CourtDisposal pending – offer received and in the hands of solicitorsN/ABracknell Magistrates’ CourtJun-161,000,001Knutsford Crown CourtFeb-151,600,000Neath Magistrates’ CourtJul-14450,000Spalding Magistrates’ CourtDec-16270,430 To note, the list does not include court integrations.

Cabinet Office

Population

Ian C. Lucas: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, if he will make an estimate of the net change in the number of people in the working age population as a result of ageing demographic trends in the UK and excluding in-year migrants in the (a) last five years and (b) next five years.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 79.68 KB)

Public Sector: Cybercrime

Jo Platt: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the estimated cost to Government has been of cyber incidents affecting the public sector in each of the last three years.

Mr David Lidington: The Government does not routinely assess the cost of responding to an individual cyber incident, nor is it a requirement for public sector bodies to report incident information to the Cabinet Office. Consequently, we do not hold this information centrally. The National Cyber Security Centre’s Annual Report (2018) provides the total number of incidents it has dealt with over the past year. Public Sector agencies can access guidance and support on a wide range of cyber threats from the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), for example through the Active Cyber Defence measures provided free of charge to the public sector as detailed in the NCSC's annual review. The Government’s National Cyber Security Programme co-ordinates the effective implementation of the National Cyber Security Strategy and manages the £1.9 billion programme of investment. Through this programme we build government cyber security capability by ensuring government networks and services are secure and that we have people in post with the right skills and a strong talent pipeline for the future.

Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, pursuant to the Answer of 5 March 2019 to Question 227162 on Brexit, when his Department will disclose full recent costs of TV advertising related to the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

Mr David Lidington: I refer the Honourable Member to my answer given to Question 227162 provided on 5 March 2019.

Cancer: Diagnosis

Mr Gregory Campbell: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what the change has been in the ratio per thousand of population of (a) male and (b) female children diagnosed with cancer in the UK between (a) 2008 and (b) 2018.

Chloe Smith: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.



UKSA Response
(PDF Document, 174.54 KB)

Brexit

Layla Moran: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what estimate the Government has made of the cost to the public purse of advertising the EU Withdrawal Agreement on social media (a) up to the present day and (b) until 29 March 2019.

Chloe Smith: Spend will be published in due course as part of our normal data release.